The Silver Crystal's Prerogative
by Tracer Fallon
Summary: After Beryl's defeat, Darien and Luna remember everything, while the girls remember everything but Darien's role as Mask.  Luna says the Silver Crystal didn't want Serena stuck with tragic memories of Endymion; he agrees. On Hiatus.
1. Chapter 1

**The Silver Crystal's Prerogative**

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**Chapter 1**

Darien's heart skipped a beat as his Odango popped up out of nowhere. His face flushed with heat as Serena approached him with Rei on her arm. As if in slow motion, Serena's long blonde streamers bounced through the air, magically held in place by the twin buns on her head, but untamed masses tangling on her face regardless, framing the shockingly large, blue eyes that made her a definite stand-out. He was still frozen as they passed him without even a sideways glance, entering the arcade behind him with twisty secrets that teenage girls tend to always gossip about.

"Back so soon?" Andrew asked, somewhat concerned that his friend, who'd been in such a rush to get out of there to study, was suddenly back, and pretty much white as a ghost.

Darien mumbled something to Andrew, then asked for a[nother] sandwich as he perched himself where he could look like he was studying and eating while he spent a few moments indulging in the proximity of the girl who didn't remember him.

It had just been a few weeks since she'd taken the brunt of Beryl's assault on him. The images still haunted him daily, and for that he'd been happy that her memories had only been partially restored. Luna had surmised that Serena and the Senshi remembered everything except Serena's worst pain — regaining Endymion, only to see him brainwashed by the Dark Kingdom and turned to kill her. Luna insisted to him that at 14, Serena was far too young to deal with Senshi training AND a lover who had been brainwashed to kill her.

So Serena and the Senshi remembered defeating Beryl, and apparently even Tuxedo Mask being in the Negaverse fighting alongside them. But none of them remembered that Tuxedo Mask was Darien, much less that he had been Serenity's lover in the past, and most especially that he'd been one of Beryl's minions who'd come close to killing Sailor Moon.

As far as Luna was concerned, Darien should respect Serena's young age and, particularly, remember how Serena had risked herself, her friends, and the whole planet over her 'dangerous obsession' with Endymion.

More than once.

Darien had argued vehemently against Luna, knowing Serena wouldn't want to be left in the dark. But Luna countered that the Silver Crystal must have had a good reason for repressing the girls' memories of Darien's role in the Beryl matter, and his identity as Tuxedo Mask. She said Darien should just wait until Serena got old enough to handle matters of the heart better, and see if her memories didn't return on their own.

Darien readily admitted that he'd inadvertently put her through a lot —for any aged girl, but especially for a 14-yr old. And as long as he could try to form a friendship with her as his civilian self, he'd wait for Serena to get older before helping her remember him as Endymion.

The problem was, he'd forgotten how little Serena had thought of him before Zoicite's attack, if she'd thought of him at all. Of course, in retrospect he couldn't blame her; he'd been relentless in his teasing, and she'd seemed to make sport of plaguing him with insults. Unfortunately, now he'd found himself unable to launch any verbal attacks at the girl who'd thrown herself in front of Beryl's attack to save him.

In fact, he'd found he couldn't speak to her at all.

Andrew set a giant sticky milkshake on the counter, and Darien glanced sideways as Serena sauntered up to the counter to grab it. As usual, she didn't acknowledge him. When Lita hollered some rude epithet her way, Serena spun around wildly and screamed something back at her. Heart pounding, Darien stared at his book where clumps of Serena's untamed streams of hair had fallen inches before his face. He ached inside as the hair disappeared; Serena had gone back to her table loudly slurping on her milkshake.

"You alright man?" Andrew asked, clearly startling Darien. Andrew leaned close and whispered, "The hell's going on with you; you look like you're going to be sick!"

The blood was painfully rushing through Darien's arms; he was sick of torturing himself, and decided he had to get out of there. He looked up at Andrew and said, "I'm good."

"You're sweating! Maybe you're sick," Andrew offered.

Darien swooped his book off the counter and took off before Andrew tried to take his temperature; he tried to completely ignore the cackling girls as he rushed for the door.

The cool air helped clear his head, and he walked swiftly away from the arcade so he wouldn't be tempted to go back in. Every day he saw Serena; every day she passed by him without ever noticing him. Of course, she was a flighty 14 year old with any and everything else on her mind besides the older college boys who would hang out at the arcade years after it was socially acceptable.

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"Well LUNA says you have to deal with her," Rei snapped, even though deep down the freaky pink-haired brat who'd POISONED them all at the shrine and burned her manga had been more than a slight pain in her ass. That night was going to be one of the few she would have had alone with Chad, and while she outwardly ignored the young man's attentions, inwardly she couldn't wait for those few hours a week where she could be uniformly adored by a really hot guy without guilt. The pink-haired brat had taken that from her.

"So you think it's SAFE," Serena hissed quietly, "to let this little impostor 'cousin' of mine brainwash my family to get my —" Serena blushed furiously, not even wanting to say it out loud, but they all knew what Rini was after. And now they knew that Rini had enemies of her own trying to chase her down. Flustered, she grumbled under her breath, "_Some 'protectors' YOU are..._"

Lita shrugged and said, "You could always come stay with me, Sere." As long as she didn't bring Luna, Lita chuckled to herself.

Serena smiled slightly at Lita, but Ami voiced what Serena was thinking: "Rini will follow you wherever you go. She seems to have a single-minded purpose to find your ..um, _property_."

Mina added, "Or worse, she'll put your parents in danger, Sere. At least if you're around, we can keep an eye out for whoever is trying to get her." Mina blinked away the business conversation and turned a wide smile on her friends: "ANY way..." she bent over and whispered loudly, "_**SQUEEEE!**_ I've got five _count-em-_FIVE guys meeting us at the ice cream parlor TOMORROW after school! **YAY!**"

Lita screamed for joy and jumped up to hug Mina across the table, but Rei, Serena, and Ami grimaced awkwardly. Rei furiously thought about a way out of this — should she be into meeting guys, especially guys MINA found hunky, when her heart secretly yearned for a certain someone who worked at her shrine?

Serena, the youngest of the bunch, smiled awkwardly as Mina described these 'high school boys' — turns out they were all jocks from the football team, and at least 16 or 17 years old. WAY too old. And experienced. Serena asked, "How'd you get FIVE GUYS to agree to meet up with us, Mina?"

Ami nodded shyly, worrying that Mina had probably bounced around the football field in a bikini and made lewd suggestions about herself and her friends. "Um, Mina, this doesn't even sound SAFE." She glanced over at the princess she was sworn to protect and saw an out: "And we're supposed to keep HER safe. I don't think this is a good idea."

"Too late; you HAVE to come or you'll make a fool out of me!" Mina smiled widely, knowing her friends NEEDED this. "You don't have to DO anything, Ames! Let's just say, I'm introducing some new blood to our group. For a DAY. A mere DISTRACTION from our usually hectic and completely man-free lives."

"EYE CANDY!" Lita smiled, completely knowing that Mina's type was her own type, and the rest had better play along or face the wrath of Sailor Jupiter! She quickly added, "We've been babysitting that little munchkin, fighting youmas and now droids, studying... we're DUE for a little ac/TION!"

Rei giggled nervously, looking at the table. Actually PRAYING that Serena would throw an immature tantrum again, maybe about staying true to Tuxedo Mask, and she could agree with the Princess, and the question would be settled.

But neither Ami nor Serena were forthcoming with an argument against Lita, who was positively SEETHING with joy and excitement about meeting some new boys.

And so it was settled, even though over half of the girls weren't thrilled about it at all.

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The following night, Tuxedo Mask had met Sailor Moon at a battle where all the Senshi were struggling against an ice-blowing droid at an ice cream parlor. He snickered quietly when he noticed that Luna was frozen; would it be completely evil to 'accidentally' chuck a rose at the cat while she was frozen?

During his reverie, Sailor Mercury used a much more powerful attack than he'd ever seen from her — he'd have to ask the icy black cat about that when she melted — and he hardly had to do more than to remind a chilly Sailor Moon to use her Halation attack. Sailor Moon had really come a long way in the last few weeks; all the girls had, in fact, and he wondered somberly if they even needed his presence with these new powers of theirs.

He hung back in the shadows, waiting for Sailor Moon to come looking for 'her hero'. And yet when he finally saw the girls emerge, they weren't Senshi anymore —and they were with a bunch of guys. He knew he should leave; he surely couldn't approach Serena as Tuxedo Mask. But something made him stay, and watch, from the shadowed rooftops.

Mina and Lita were HANGING onto these steroid-ridden jocks, giggling —and, if he weren't mistaken, practically giving those boys credit for being brave during the droid attack! His eyes fell onto Serena, who much to his relief was walking with Rei and Ami, decidedly behind the other three guys who were acting goofy and _oh so Obviously!_ trying to impress the girls. He pulled a rose to the ready when one of the show-off boys lifted a bench over his head for no apparent reason—

"What are you doing?"

Tuxedo Mask jumped at Luna's harsh voice and turned on the cat. "You still have icicles, Luna," he said, tucking the rose back into his jacket. "Maybe you should go warm up," [in the fires of hell].

Luna shrugged. "What are you doing, Tuxedo Mask?" she asked again, just as patiently.

The angry man detransformed and sat on the rooftop, barely catching the group of partiers as they turned the corner and disappeared from sight. Coldly, he said, "I thought you said she was too young to date." It wasn't a question.

Luna jumped onto Darien's lap and let him pet her. "I said nothing of the sort. I said that MAYBE the Silver Crystal didn't restore her memories of YOU because she's too young to deal with ..let's call it '_an epic romance_', if you will." Beat. "Anyway, Mina sort of strong-armed the girls into this, Darien. Most of the girls weren't interested in going at all." She started to purr as Darien scratched her ears.

"And even if she were," Luna continued, "we're talking about a high school boy and some ice cream. Mina figured they could use some time off from this new threat, and really, it wasn't a bad idea. They've been very stressed lately." Luna made a point of not telling the over-protective Endymion-slash-Darien a word about the new pink-haired intruder in the Tsukino home who was after the Silver Crystal.

Darien damned-near growled, "Then there's nothing stopping her from enjoying some time with Darien Chiba." He glared at the cat. "RIGHT?"

Luna smiled. "I suppose if it were forbidden, you wouldn't be here at all." She moved away from his more aggressive handling of her throat, letting her tail whack back and forth angrily to give the lout a clue that he best not take out his anger on HER. "But keep in mind, ENDYMION," she stressed his name, "She's 14, and even her FRIENDS think she's a naive 14."

"Some would call it _'pure'_, Luna," Darien growled. "And I'm probably the only one out there than can truly appreciate and respect how pure she is."

"Then by all means, go for it," Luna drawled. "Of course, there's nothing keeping you from _'going for'_ someone closer to your own age who might satisfy some of your .._'frustrations'_. Until Serena is a bit more ..mature."

Darien picked the cat up by the scruff of her neck and dropped her to the rooftop, then stood. "My ONLY frustration is in not being able to spend even a little bit of time with her." Changing the subject quickly before he gave into his desire to kick the cat off the roof, he asked, "Did Ami get any read on that ice cream parlor? —why the enemy is attacking these random spots like the makeup boutique and an ice cream parlor?"

"Good question, Mr. Chiba," Luna said. "We'll address it at the next scout meeting, and I'll let you know what we find, as usual."

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After clambering down from the rooftop, he surveyed the ice cream parlor again, but primarily considered the fact that the Silver Crystal didn't want Serena dating him, but apparently was fine with her dating anybody BUT him.

But then something happened — not even fifteen minutes had passed since the attack when he felt Serena's transformation again; knowing his transformation was coming, he jumped into an alley in case a passerby got a peek at his undoing.

When he emerged, Sailor Moon was standing before him, red-faced and breathing hard. She said, "You're still here!"

His heart melted, and he found himself speechless. She'd DUMPED her friends and their boys to come find him! Smiling through his damnable blush, he said, "Just surveying the area. Did Sailor Mercury find anything?"

Sailor Moon had moved considerably closer to him with a smile on her face, but stopped as he asked his question, which even he couldn't even recall now. He didn't hesitate to hold her arms and pull her somewhat closer, ostensibly so they could discuss the enemy without spying ears picking up on the conversation.

She smiled at him again, primarily because she'd worried that he'd noticed 5 girls leave with 5 boys the very moment the battle was over. Not only had she felt guilty for that, but she'd worried that the boys, the public, and even Tuxedo Mask would make some very obvious connections. Unfortunately, Mina was the 'leader', and she'd detransformed and chased down the boys before anyone else could argue, so they all had to follow suit. As calmly as she could muster, especially after he'd brought her closer, she managed to say, "Portals."

"Portals?" Tuxedo Mask asked, merely repeating what she'd said with those delicious lips.

Sailor Moon blushed, then turned slightly to the ice cream parlor without letting go of his touch. "Maybe gateways. Mercury said they were trying to get negative energy from ..couples, I guess to open some door to .._somewhere_..." She was grinning so widely at her beautiful tuxedo-clad Adonis that she couldn't remember what Ami had said, but she didn't want to come off as a ditz. She wished she could just ask him out as easily as Mina had asked FIVE GUYS out.

"Why did you come back?" Tuxedo Mask asked with feigned concern. He KNEW why she'd come back, and it wasn't an errant droid they'd happened upon; she'd escaped the group date because she hadn't seen HIM after the battle, which was their usual course of action. He was fully intending to move even closer to her when she suddenly disappeared amongst a fury of red and blue fukus.

Sailor Mars and Sailor Mercury had grabbed their Princess and pulled her forcefully away from Tuxedo Mask. With a few well-placed snipes, Sailor Mars stood before Serena and asked, "And what are you doing here anyway? The rainbow crystals are Sailor Moon's! Are you trying to get the Silver Crystal now, too?"

Mask was strangely relieved that someone had finally brought up his role in the Princess' life now that he wasn't chasing rainbow crystals anymore. But he was positively offended that Sailor Mars might believe he was trying to KILL Sailor Moon to steal her crystal. "I would NEVER take Sailor Moon's crystal, Sailor Mars," he said harshly. "I still find a need to protect her."

"Much like we do," Sailor Mercury said thoughtfully, trying to play the Good Cop to Sailor Mars' Bad Cop.

"It's not like he's Senshi," Sailor Mars spat. And was about to spit out how popular the Silver Crystal had become recently, but they were all under strict orders to NOT mention Rini to anyone outside the Senshi circle.

"I'm here to help," Mask said, looking back at his Princess. "We have no idea who this new enemy is—"

"Thank you," his Serenity said, gliding gracefully past Sailor Mercury before knocking forcefully into Sailor Mars with a mere "oops". She tried to assume her former position near Tuxedo Mask, but Sailor Mars had her firmly in hand and a series of mild struggles ensued between Moon and Mars. A look of extreme irritation passed Serenity's face, but she calmly agreed with her handsome hero, "We really need to know who we're dealing with."

"Friend or foe," Sailor Mars demanded of Tuxedo Mask, allowing Sailor Moon no more room to move into Tuxedo Mask's personal space.

"Friend," he said sternly, then quickly bent forward and kissed his Princess on the cheek before dashing off. He could stay for an eternity with Serena, but he couldn't bear her overprotective friends.

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**Wit's End****  
**Rini sat at home fuming, feeling completely useless for about the hundredth time since she'd blasted to the past. She had realized the moment she freaked out, right after Serena had spanked her, that the evil people picked up on her outbursts somehow and that's how they had tracked her to Rei's shrine, so she'd been careful to keep her temper in check.

But it was Soooooo HARD!

Rini had searched Serena's place, even Ikuko's room, and that crystal was NOT in that house. Nor was it at the shrine, or at Ami's. It wasn't at Serena's school, or her usual hangouts, either.

But the bad people were attacking more now, even without looking for her, and Rini was getting no closer to the crystal than when she landed on Day 1 in Serena Tsukino's lap amidst her friends in the park.

Even though Serena should have been all these wonderful things to be the actual holder of the crystal, the ONLY positive thing Rini could see was an oddball 'beauty', if you could stretch it that far. And a decent name. The other things were negative: no boyfriend, constantly late and irresponsible, clumsy, ungraceful. MEAN! And her friends weren't that much better.

No, something was wrong, and even though she'd started growing attached to these strange teenagers, she wasn't getting any closer to the crystal she so needed. There HAD to be another Serena Tsukino somewhere in the world! It COULDN'T be this 14 year old twit that had access to the Silver Crystal!

She had tried sneaking out to the park late at night, hoping for some of the monster attacks that drew the Sailor Senshi, hoping maybe they could help her, but Ikuko Tsukino was adamant that Rini stay in bed after 9pm. **sigh** That really left her very little hope in finding Sailor Moon on her own unless she killed 'Aunt Ikuko'.

No, she was back to square one, and once again, she would approach Serena. And this time, she'd ask her directly what she knew about EVERYTHING she'd heard about the 20th century. The Silver Crystal, Sailor Moon, —maybe how she could find Sailor Moon. Maybe, if she got on Serena's good side, Serena could help her slip by Ikuko and get to the Senshi! Rini knew she was missing something huge, and Serena just HAD to be the key!

Maybe the fact that Serena was so late getting home from her 'group date' tonight, strangely at the ice cream parlor that was featured on the news tonight, was the answer.

If only she could get an HONEST response from Serena.

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Coming to some kind of understanding with the Senshi had been nice, but touching Serena — Sailor Moon, rather — had been exquisite. The pretty sailor suited soldier had COME BACK looking for HIM! Even with Luna's disapproval, he'd decided his best bet of spending time with Sailor Moon was, literally, spending time with Sailor Moon!

And perhaps, 'accidentally' giving away his identity — only for Sailor Moon — so perhaps she could mull over the fact that she was in love with the poor sop she ignored in the arcade. Yes, of course, THAT kind of identity-revealing went against the _spirit _of the rules Luna had laid out, but really, there was no other way to earn her trust and adoration, much less love, as plain old Darien Chiba.

So the day after the ice cream parlor battle, he decided he didn't need to torture himself around her civilian form every single day anymore — maybe just on days when he didn't see Sailor Moon — and he opted to avoid the arcade entirely. Maybe if he didn't torture himself like that, he could learn to be the relaxed guy who merely months ago had teased her mercilessly about her odd hairstyle and clumsy gait. He needed to regroup; and playing the bumbling idiot didn't suit him at all; and it would never get him any quality time with her.

As he walked through the park, he ran across a bunch of kids headed his way and decided to veer off the beaten path and go feed the birds.

"Hey, it's you!"

Darien spun quickly at hearing his Odango's voice. She was staring right at him, just a few feet away, with a screwy grin on her face.

Darien's blood ran cold, but he tried to keep his smile. What luck; the very DAY he'd opted to stay away from her, she found him and actually spoke to him? —He urged himself to pull this off, and said, as casually as he could muster, "Hey, Meatball Head."

Serena's smile disappeared instantly. "And here I'd thought you had FINALLY started acting your age," she huffed.

He tried to hide his relief that she remembered him at all, and attempted to say something further, something that he would have said to her before remembering her as his princess he'd spent a lifetime searching for. His mouth opened, and he finally croaked out, "Sorry, Serena."

Serena's brow wrinkled and she said, "You know my name?"

He blanched, trying to remember if he hadn't called her by her proper name before.

"You sure have been acting strange lately," Serena quipped, then turned away. "SHINGO!" she yelled, waving wildly across the lake. "That stupid kid," she mumbled, then took off running at the group of kids who'd gotten away from her. "SHINGO! Don't let Rini get WET!"

And just that quickly, Serena was out of his life again. He watched her catch up to her brother and his gaggle of friends. Darien turned back to the birds, who'd also fled and left him standing alone with the bread.

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The following week, Darien found himself back in the arcade, listening to Andrew tease him about his complete lack of a social life. Darien couldn't argue the point, but said he had been busy studying for end-of-term exams, plus this week he was invited to a professor's dinner with other students from his class.

"Ooooh, gripping!" Serena smiled. She looked at Andrew and said, "The usual."

"Alright buttercup," Andrew smiled back, then started constructing her monstrosity of a milkshake.

Serena plopped down next to Darien and said, "I thought college guys had all the fun. Parties every night, no parents to worry about..." When Andrew placed her drink on the counter, she propped herself over it and started slurping immediately. "No little brothers and cousins to babysit all the time..." She sighed and slurped some more.

Darien had never felt so shy and awkward in his whole life. The object of his every waking thought was planted next to him, swinging her legs back and forth like a child half her age, probably waiting for her friends to come barging in. He glanced over and caught her staring at him; a devious smile played across her lips.

Then suddenly she had the milkshake in his face, holding the straw to his lips: "You know you want some."

He was startled by her words, but took the proffered sip, unable to do otherwise. And self-conscious that his face must be beet red again. She probably thought he had a raging sunburn since everytime she looked at him his face was red. He'd barely swallowed the first sip before she jerked the straw out of his mouth and said, "A _**sip**_, Darien. Geez! Order your own!"

She did know his name! he startled. "I don't even like ice cream," he complained lightly, his voice sounding a little more confident, like it used to, to his great relief.

She screwed her face up and looked at him like he was a slimy alien, then turned back to the front and sucked her milkshake pleasantly.

He couldn't peel his eyes off of her. He'd confessed to Luna how distressing it was that she didn't remember him AT ALL; and right this instant, that distress was overbearing. How couldn't she remember him? How couldn't she feel ANYTHING?

Luna had merely reminded him that she was an average teenage girl who couldn't begin to deal with the emotions rampant in her former Princess Serenity's life, and memories or not, Darien couldn't ravish her the way he probably wanted to regardless, so to just give it some time.

Serena turned on him suddenly and whispered, "Why are you staring at me?" She set her milkshake down and said, "What, do I have something on my face—"

Darien nervously reached up and pulled some errant strands of hair free from her lips, effectively shutting her up. Something akin to fear, or maybe disgust, seemed to flash in her eyes, so he awkwardly removed his hand.

She lost any hint of a smile and stared at Darien curiously.

Darien couldn't believe he'd just touched her without saying anything; it was no wonder she was glaring at him and turning away. He had to think of something to say, quick …but instead turned back around and closed his book, papers still inside, and jumped up to leave.

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Serena didn't watch him leave. She supposed he didn't want company after all, but he sure had gotten weird in the last month or so.

Andrew said, "If I'm too old for you, he's DEFINITELY too old for you."

Serena's eyes shot up angrily at her bar keep. "Oh, _As IF!_ I was just trying to be nice to him since he never talks to anyone anymore."

"Guess you're not what the doctor ordered," Andrew teased. But seeing his little customer looked hurt, he added, "Chiba's been acting strange for weeks now. It's just his school work; don't let it get to you."

Serena shrugged. "Whatever." It's not like she was like her boy-crazy friend Lita, or had actually dated anyone like Rei or Mina had. Of course, she wasn't quite the non-interested party like Ami, either. Either way, Darien, or any guy who read that much, SURELY wasn't her type. She was just being nice. And the baka should be pleased about it.

She added, "Anyway, you're not too old for me!" Gleaming, she said, "I'm going to be 15 soon!"

Andrew chuckled, and took her hands in his: "In almost a year, right?"

Serena pushed his hands away, knowing he was playing with her: "A FEW months, Andrew."

Andrew saw her blushing fiercely, and realized he'd just played the baka himself. "Trust me, Sere — if you don't have guys climbing over themselves for a date with you next year, I'll be the first in line." And even then she'd still be too young, but he had to admit he fully enjoyed her adorations of him. And that comment had earned him a smile.

"Six months," she said playfully, bargaining him down.

"Wait for me," he said dreamily at her infectious smile.

He knew she wasn't that serious; she flashed him her pearly whites then turned to go sit with Molly and Melvin.

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Later that night, when Serena got home, she caught the new fake cousin rifling through her things, AGAIN. Serena had no idea what the creepy, brainwashing alien wanted, but it had fully embedded itself into her family, and all her attempts at opening her family's eyes to that fact had proven useless. Only Luna and the girls saw through Rini's bullshit, but they didn't have to suffer with her quite as much as Serena did.

But Serena's heart fell when the pink-haired tyke turned to her with wet eyes.

Luna jumped up on Serena's vanity and whispered, "She's been doing this since she got home. And she won't speak."

Serena went and lay on her bed, exhausted. "Hey Rini? I've got some homework to finish up. Why don't you be a cutie pie and bring it here. Maybe you can help me with it."

Serena closed her eyes as the alien brat barraged her with the usual venom about Serena's intelligence, or lack thereof. But with patience, she felt the books and the brat hit the bed, and sat up to crack open the books.

Rini watched intently as Serena neatly put down answers in her notebook. She liked that; even though Serena HATED learning, and homework, when something just HAD to be done, Serena would cave and do it. She did what had to be done. [With effort.] Rini cleared her throat, "Serena? You got this one wrong."

Serena didn't even review the problem; she erased the whole answer and started again. And got the same answer. She harrumphed and grabbed her cell phone to get the right answer from Ami.

And then Rei called after Rini and Serena had just finished their homework and started to get ready for bed. Rini giggled quietly as she heard Serena tell Rei off about some exercise program they'd be doing tomorrow.

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**Fat Camp**  
Rei, the acting leader of this particular crew, marched the girls through Jaaban park with a military-like gusto. Mina, the actual leader, slumped behind the usurper, followed by Lita and Serena. Ami was bringing up the rear, multi-tasking as usual with her handheld computer scrolling pages of a famous work of literature as she lightly jogged behind them.

"Annnndd... RUN!" Rei barked. She was going to GET these girls into shape the old-fashioned way. As they slogged forward past Rei, the priestess slapped Serena's butt with her transformation rod and said, "You too, Princess! Knees UP! Let's GO!"

Darien watched the laughable debacle from a bench, along with a few of his college mates he'd recently made acquaintance with, and who needed study partners to catch up. It had gotten stuffy in the library, and he didn't feel comfortable enough with them to bring him to his apartment, so the park it had been.

"They're cute!" the red-haired Rubeus said smokily, closing his book and admiring the girls.

Koan, the other new student, rudely cleared her throat and said, "Oh please, they aren't even high school age yet! —Reaching new lows, Rubeus."

Darien replied warmly, "They're ..um, almost out of Junior High. Fifteen..." He cleared his throat. "One is fourteen."

"I feel for the one who's trying to read her computer while keeping up with their exercise." Rubeus really did get that; there was never enough time in the day to soak in everything the worlds had to offer, he lamented.

Ami, Darien thought warmly about the girl Rubeus was referring to. They really were an odd bunch of girls. Knowing now what he didn't before, he was quite amused at the girls' requirement to work together when they were all so different.

When Serena shoved the usurping leader and started screaming because of her calf muscles, Koan said quietly, "Bet I can guess the 14 year old."

Darien winced as Rei grabbed a pound of Serena's hair and jerked her down the path in a forced run, with Serena crying and screaming bloody murder all the way. At least Mina had jumped in the fray to slow Rei's progress, and then the three girls got in a hair-pulling, slap-happy fight. With Lita excitedly cheering them ALL on, apparently looking for a reason to jump in the battle.

Ami, not paying attention, ran straight into the fray and ended up being bounced a few feet back, on her butt. She madly tended her computer to make sure nothing had broken.

Rubeus noticed Darien watching them intently, and asked, "Do you know these young death squad maidens, Chiba?"

Darien was prepared for that: "I do. They hang out at an arcade I frequent."

Koan laughed derisively, "YOU go to an arcade? —Isn't that for *_children_*?"

Darien sneered at the blue-haired wench as she consulted her own handheld computer like she was looking up the term 'arcade'. Darien snidely said, "An old friend of mine runs the place. It's a great place to get a cup of coffee, especially if you know the proprietor."

As the girls split up, Darien stood up, thinking that with Serena coming back his way, he should say 'hi', if only to prove to her that he indeed had friends and a social life. Which, he really didn't, but Rubeus and Koan would probably look like that to the girls.

Serena and Mina neared them arm-in-arm as Darien stood, and Darien saw his Odango glance past him and Rubeus and stare directly at Koan. He smiled, trying to get her attention, but couldn't help but laugh at Serena's messed up odangos. "Guess it can't be 'Odango,' anymore! Looks more like a wild bush!"

That got a glare from his little sprite, but only momentarily as she angrily untwisted her failed buns and let her hair fly free. Darien stopped breathing as he watched her hair fly down and corona over her head like a star being born. He swallowed hard as her bewitching eyes found his again. His smile dropped as he pondered how a girl her age could be so alluring without trying, and briefly wondered if the Silver Crystal wasn't right about withholding all traces of him from her memory.

As Serena was finger-combing her hair out, she returned her glare to the woman that Darien was hanging out with these days. She felt Darien's eyes on her hair, though, and furious that this wouldn't satisfy his obvious requirement for decent hairstyles, she glanced at him sideways and spat, "Well we were just exercising!" Baka!

Darien had never seen her hair down before, and for a moment, imagined laying in his bed with that halo of yellow spun gold splayed all about him. He could almost feel it grazing his naked belly; he could easily envision her looking down on him with those strange, hypnotic blue orbs of hers, just before she leaned down to kiss him and cover them both in that blanket of gold fleece.

"Darien!" Mina snapped again, irritated that he'd just glared at Serena without acknowledging anything she'd said, much less without introducing them to his college friends. Mina felt like she loved just about everybody, and she'd acknowledged almost immediately that Darien and Serena seemed to have some sort of strange hate-at-first-sight going on, but this was seriously pushing it. The man should mind his damned manners! ESPECIALLY around her Princess.

Darien snapped to attention and said, "Oh, sorry... Yes, we saw your ..'exercising'. —Um, these are my classmates, Rubeus and Koan," he looked awkwardly at them. Then Darien grabbed Serena's hand and said, "This is Serena Tsukino and, um ..her friend." What was her fucking name? "Mina! —This is Mina."

Serena was more than shocked when Chiba grabbed her hand, especially when she had to shake it free so she could take the hands of the people HE'd just introduced her to. Blushing on Darien's awkward behalf, she said, "Hey."

Rubeus focused intently on both Serena and Mina, explaining that he and his friend were new in town and trying to catch up with the class load. "It's most likely that we've kept Mr. Chiba busy lately."

Darien's heart was now racing a mile a minute; he needed to pull himself together and not be so odious to the girl he hoped would be *his* Princess one day. He stepped even closer to Serena and reached for her hand again, then privately whispered, "I was just joking. Your hair is -_amazing_."

Serena watched in something close to horror as the man picked her hand up and air-kissed it. Coming from anyone else, maybe it was a nice apology. Coming from him...? She had no idea. She wondered if he were indeed doing drugs as Lita had suggested the other day.

But then something akin to jealousy struck her when Darien took Mina's hand the same way and air-kissed it, too. She wondered if Mina and Darien would have to get a room if Mina kept squealing like a stuck pig.

Serena caught Mina's eyes and looked away, then Mina said it was nice meeting everyone, catching Serena's hint and saying their goodbyes.

Before they could disappear, Darien put an arm on Serena's lower back and led her a few steps away from the rest of the group. "I really am sorry, Serena. I hope I didn't embarrass you."

Serena looked stupidly at his arm disappearing behind her. She fumed inwardly that Rei had gotten her so off-balance that now she was somehow enjoying having this weird jerk's hand on her. Confused, she swallowed awkwardly and glanced at him: "It's okay."

Her eyes locked on his, then the hair on the back of her neck stood up like she was a damned cat — he seemed to be looking at her like he was trying to tell her something. Her breath caught as she felt his eyes boring into her own, and —she quickly tore her eyes away from his and got pissed at herself for thinking about this baka's eyes!

She quickly departed, gasping silently as she realized she missed his touch. That was it! She was going to KILL Rei for getting her angry enough that she was acting super-ditzy around bakas. Even if they were mildly cute, broody ones.

Darien smiled warmly at her as she bounced off into the setting sunlight, Mina needing to rush to catch up to her. He half-wondered if his touches had had an effect on her after all. He determined to try that again, just to see—

Koan said, "VERY young."

Rubeus commented, "Very RIPE for their ages, though."

Koan sneered, "As if you'd care how old they are!"

Darien's head snapped to Koan — what a catty comment for someone like Koan, an advanced med student ready to move straight into an internship. Acting like her brother's interest in other girls caused her jealousy.

Rubeus glared at Koan as well, but then said to Darien, "You seemed quite fond of the youngest one." Beat. Relishing the name as it left his mouth, "Serena." He smiled to himself; Serena, _Serenity_. But more importantly, the young girl LOOKED like the Neo-Queen. Which, of course, any of them would know on sight since Prince Diamond was so completely obsessed with the bitch that their veritable leader was never caught without some creepy three-dimensional images of her.

Rubeus was almost ecstatic with his own thoughts! What stroke of luck —no, DESTINY! would lead their clan back to the past and almost immediately into the proximity of an ancestor of the Neo-Queen Serenity!

Who wore her hair the same strange-ass way the Rabbit did!

Rubeus knew he would be visiting the arcade to see a little more of this Serena and her friends. Find out where the Tsukino household was.

"She's a friend," Darien said darkly, suspicious glare leaving Koan and resting on Rubeus. "A GOOD friend."

Koan rolled her eyes, and in a singsong voice, said, "_Jailbait..._"

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Rini watched the scene from behind trees; when Serena and Mina split off from the group, Rini had to choose to follow Lita or Mina, the only two she hadn't fully investigated yet. Seeing as how Mina and Serena were so pissed off, she opted instead to follow Lita. Rini had two coals in the fire: earn Serena's trust, and keep investigating Serena's friends. She was working on #1 now; and Lita would be #2—

Rini let her eyes wander to where the blondes had been stopped by a group of older people. Her blood started pumping through her veins telling her there was danger afoot, but her eyes zeroed in on the very threat she'd been avoiding since returning to the past.

The bad people. Serena and Mina were talking to the bad people, she was sure of it. They looked a little different, but there was no mistaking them. Especially not the crazy red-haired demon guy!

Did that mean the bad people KNEW Serena had the Silver Crystal, or were they just fishing and this meeting was completely accidental? Had they TRACKED Rini, and were now inquiring the blondes about the whereabouts of a pink-haired beautiful little princess? And if so, would Serena give her up?

—no. No, no, no, Rini reminded herself. She was letting her imagination get away with her, and if she weren't careful, she'd signal ALL the bad people exactly where she was. She started stepping backwards, then finally turned and ran. Her plan to follow Lita long forgotten, she ran and ran until she got to the Tsukinos, then she ran in and found Ikuko and burst into tears, holding on to her surrogate mother for dear life.


	2. Chapter 2

**The Silver Crystal's Prerogative**

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**Chapter 2**

**Thursday**  
The next day, Darien was more casual-feeling when he walked into the arcade. Or at least, he looked it on the outside; he'd had a somewhat non-creepy run-in with Serena, and now she and her friends knew he HAD a life and wasn't a complete dork. He'd even skipped dinner at a Professor's house to make a show at the arcade.

He was shocked when Serena spoke to him while playing her Sailor V game. She hadn't taken her eyes off the game, but at least she'd acknowledged his existence. He went over and talked to Andrew, who guessed he must have passed the tests he'd been studying for because he sure seemed happier.

While they were talking shop, Serena popped up and slapped some money down. "Can you get me change, my love?" she flirted with the arcade owner, though without her usually happy smile.

Darien blushed, suddenly unable to speak again. But he didn't have to; Serena asked, "So is _Conehead_ your girlfriend or something?"

He looked at her confused with 'Conehead'. It struck him that she meant Koan. It struck him more that Serena had an angry demeanor. Or was it a jealous demeanor? He tried to hide his smile and said, "Hardly." He, in fact, couldn't stand Koan; she was Rubeus' sister, but definitely had a strange interest in her brother, and was quite pushy to boot. "Koan and her brother just need the help catching up."

Serena grimaced into the counter, thinking about her own sad state of affairs in 'catching up' at school. She sighed, "Know the feeling."

"Do you?" Andrew asked, giving her the change. "I bet you wouldn't need any help at all if you didn't spend so much time trying to AVOID your homework."

Serena sneered at him playfully, "Yes, DADDY."

"Hey hey, six months!" Andrew reminded her playfully. "Then I'll be your boyfriend and you'll HAVE to take my advice!"

Serena smiled warmly at him and said, "Six months, and I'll have a good boyfriend who'll do my homework FOR me!" Then she stuck her tongue out at Andrew.

Darien was glaring at Andrew now, thinking of the best way for the guy to die. Andrew's smile melted off his face when he caught Darien's look; he was apparently bothering his friend. He stepped away from the counter to clean the grill.

Darien said, out of nowhere, "So do you run through the park every day?"

His attempt at conversation startled Serena, but the thought of exercising publically with Rei every day was more startling: "Are you kidding me? Under Hino's command? DON'T think so." She started fuming just remembering that fiasco of a 'drill' yesterday; Serena knew she wasn't the best Senshi ever, but she could outrun any of them anytime, anywhere. Unless it was Rei calling the shots and arguing that she wasn't getting her knees high enough.

Mina had joined them suddenly, and laughed, "Yeah, don't think _THAT'll_ be happening again anytime soon." She smiled at Darien and said, "Hey Darien! It was nice that you introduced us to your friends yesterday."

Darien was nervous enough as it was with Serena, but with her cadre coming in, he felt like he was floundering like a fish out of water. He finally managed a quick nod and said, "I didn't think I'd seen you girls there often. Exercising."

Mina said, "Oh, so you hang out at the park every day?"

Darien turned red against his will, and somewhat fibbed, "Yes. Yes, I do. Study, eat, ... I'm there all the time, I guess you could say."

Andrew turned around and glared at the lies flying out of his friend's mouth, but Darien ignored him and said to the girls, "I mean, not always with other classmates; but just, you know.."

Serena said, "I guess it's better than the library, but what else is there to do in the park?" Besides fight youmas and chase little kids you had to babysit, she thought wryly.

"Uh, get fresh air, commune with nature? Feed the birds?" Darien listed off dumbly.

Serena smiled suddenly, remembering, "That's RIGHT! I saw you there the other day feeding birds." She looked at Mina and shrugged. "Dork."

Mina laughed, "Serena can't imagine throwing out good food to the birds."

Serena elbowed Mina playfully: "I feed the birds!"

"To the snakes!" Mina added, laughing.

While Serena was busy smacking her friend's arm, Darien said, "I usually like to eat there after my classes." The lies just rolled off his tongue. "It's a nice setting for lunch."

"Must be nice," Serena said. "I can't imagine not being stuck in a cafeteria for lunch."

"**Late** lunch," Darien added quickly. "Probably about when you get out of school, I guess. -when my classes end for the day." Lies, lies, and more lies. What the hell was he doing?

"But you're HERE most afternoons," Serena countered, seriously wondering what this guy was making up lies for.

Mina said, "Serena, after school for YOU includes detention. For the rest of the world, it's about 3:00."

Serena rolled her eyes, but Darien's mouth dropped open: "I come here _after_ I have some late lunch in the park." Suddenly brimming with a new idea, he added, "Lots of people eat at the park. In fact, I always bring plenty in case someone joins me."

"Like Rubeus and that .._that other one_," Serena sneered. She had no idea why that Koan woman made her skin crawl like it did, but there you have it.

Mina interrupted pleasantly, "I think that sounds lovely."

Serena snapped, "Then maybe you should join him?"

Mina's eyes flew wide at Serena, wondering where the hostility was coming from, but Darien quickly turned the tables on Serena in an effort to make sure he didn't end up on a date with Mina: "Maybe YOU should join me, Odango. Who knows; maybe a few moments outside the arcade might do you a lot of good!"

Serena smirked at first, sorta waiting for the other shoe to drop. Some insult about her befuddled brain, maybe. But then thinking about that blue-haired freak 'Koan' they'd met yesterday, and how Koan would probably be joining him if nobody else did, she hesitantly asked, "What kind of food?"

Darien smiled, tossing his hook out with the perfect bait: "Just the usual fare. Nothing special. Oh except this week I picked up a lot of ice cream and cakes on sale. Even if I don't eat a lot of it, kids usually flock to it."

Serena's eyes flew wide in lust over the treats he'd listed, and she glanced at Mina, thinking they should raid Darien's picnics for the goodies!

Mina said, "I LOVE ice cream and cakes!" —and got an elbow in the ribs from her spiteful BFF. Somewhat hurt, Mina took the hint and disappeared to their booth where the rest of the girls were now congregating.

First embarrassed, and then outright ashamed, of her childish actions, which she couldn't BEGIN to explain, Serena sighed and said, "I think Mina really would like to meet you for your ..'late lunch'." She opted to go tell Mina she was sorry and to go ahead and meet Darien at the park tomorrow. And get all the ice cream.

Darien said quickly, far too quickly, "Bring her if you want." And, when Serena's head jerked back to Darien, he added softly, "Or not." Just come.

Her eyes narrowed at the man who was getting under her skin just as bad as when he made fun of her. Maybe worse. Had he just asked her OUT? No, _no no no_, he'd been casual about it, like 'bring who you want. Or not. I don't care.' -But OH how she'd like to go.

Only, Mina had obviously wanted to go.

Looking back at her table of friends, she glumly said, "Mina's right; I'll probably get detention." She turned back and smiled solemnly at Darien. "But Mina rarely gets detention, and I'm sure she'd love to meet you. —I'll go tell her."

Darien smiled awkwardly at his hands and bashfully said, "I'd be sure to save plenty for you. —even if you get detention." He chanced a glance at the sad girl, and saw her eyes start to light up. And then she blushed, and Darien thought he'd fall over dead that minute. That was it; he'd asked her out. Sort of. And she was considering it.

Serena, hating herself for blushing, as much as for horning in on what was obviously Mina's action, shrugged and tried to make light of the awkward situation. "It's okay. You don't know how much ice cream Mina can eat—"

Darien's glare shut her up; she felt like she was going to swallow her tongue. He must have thought she was a back-stabbing friend to say that about Mina! She was about to explain how she was just joking about Mina eating too much, when Darien said, "Don't invite Mina."

Serena shut up. The baka had turned back around to his books now, but left her mind swimming with confusion. Hadn't he asked them BOTH? And hadn't Serena been the twit to literally push Mina away so she could have some of the goodies too?

Serena's name was called; she turned sharply to look at Rei, who was insisting on her presence. Quickly, she looked back at Darien and, with a clearly embarrassed blush, disappeared towards the girls' booth.

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**Friday**  
The following day, Darien sat in the park feeling like a fool. He had a picnic blanket he was sitting on, and a picnic basket he'd just purchased that morning. Just in case. He knew this was a dangerous game to be playing. One, the wrong person could show up, judging by Mina's responses. But also, even if Serena took the bait and showed up, and everything went as well as he could have hoped, WHAT THEN? Eat with her every day till she turned 16? Try to spark some memories? He had NO IDEA what he was doing!

And nobody was showing up; it had been over an hour since school had let out.

He was about to give up when he finally felt his Odango approaching. Without turning, he said with mock surprise, "Ms. Tsukino, of all people."

Serena had been a ball of nerves anyway, but to have him announce her arrival without looking really shook her up. "How'd you know it was me?"

He patted the blanket on which he was reclined and said, as casually as he could muster, "Odango shadows."

She slowly approached him from behind, then cautiously kneeled on the blanket, not because he'd asked, but because his so-called 'lunch' looked like the most tempting picnic basket she'd ever seen. She said, "It doesn't look like anyone's ravaged your lunch yet. Am I the first one here?"

He turned around and said, "Yep," and smiled mysteriously. "I was about to give up—" Then he saw her, and gaped openly, trying to keep his jaw off the ground. She wasn't wearing her odangos, which was the second time in like, ever, he'd seen her hair down. But this time her hair was painstakingly curled and bouncing all over the creation; he felt that she could rule worlds just on the beauty of her hair alone.

He'd opened the picnic basket for her perusal before even looking at her, so she tentatively started rooting through the basket. And was SHOCKED that there was really a TON of food in there, including some ice cream that was carefully packed in ice packets. Her eyes widened with desire for the tasty treat; she slammed the basket shut and looked at him askance. "You really have ice cream!"

Darien stared at her blankly. "Yeah... have as much as you'd like, of course."

She grinned widely and grabbed the ice cream. She completely didn't believe that he'd brought all this stuff just for himself, or even just himself and her. But she couldn't discern a reason he'd lie about it.

Trying to be cool, he sat up and asked, "Did you have detention today?"

Serena chuckled, "No, but Rei wanted to do another fat camp session today, so I had to go home for a while to throw her off my track." It was partially true; with Luna at Rei's, she could go home and fix her hair up some so the baka couldn't joke about her hairstyle. She may have gone a bit overboard.

Darien finally mustered up the courage to ask what he'd wanting to be ask since he saw her: "Your hair looks ..different."

Her face was unreadable; she looked away self-consciously and asked, "You don't like this either?"

Darien's heart soared, realizing she might have spent time beautifying herself for him. Was she getting a bit of a crush on him? Would he be able to handle it if she were?

Finally, he croaked out, "No, -no it's nice. I like it the other way, too." Beat. "The odangos. They're very .._you_." He kicked himself for sounding like someone's granddad.

She looked at him seriously, looking at her seriously. He was almost studying her face. "Why are you looking at me like that?" she mumbled out, mouth full of ice cream.

Darien blushed; "You're, um, you look different, that's all." She really didn't; her hair was amazing, but it was her striking features that kept his eyes glued on her face. Princess Serenity, Serena's former self, had many of the same features, of course, but more mature. But there was something even more stunning about Serena in her current incarnation. Her eyes were more piercing than ever; the shape of her face was heart-rending; even her lack of grace was more like a cherry on top than a dark cloud to her silver lining.

She stopped chewing and squinted, unable to take even a half-baked compliment easily. "No, really, do I have hair in my mouth again?" she asked through a mouthful of food. She started wiping at her face—

"No, Odango," Darien said, smiling at her own ignorance of her completely unique beauty. "I was just noticing your eyes." When she stopped messing around and looked at him, she seemed jarred by something she saw in his expression. He smiled awkwardly and said, "Your —eyes. They're very ..light blue. Like the sky." He knew he sounded like a creep, and blundered out quickly, "I'm sorry; I didn't mean to be rude."

Serena lit up; "That's rude?" She laughed. "If THAT'S your new definition of rude, you can be rude to me all you want."

She crumpled up the ice cream wrapper, then dug around the basket some more. "Rei thinks I have too many freckles; and Lita's always trying to do something different to my hair. Even my little cousin who's freakin EIGHT doesn't think I study enough." CANDY! She found a peppermint stick and started munching down on that, as well. "—So if you weren't expecting anyone, what are you doing out here with ALL this FOOD?" She now highly suspected he'd been waiting for a certain someone with long blue hair who dressed like a two-bit tramp. Rubeus' sister Koan.

Darien sat up and took the peppermint stick from her death-grip, then broke it in half, and gave her the fresh half. "I told you I wasn't expecting anyone!" He popped the peppermint stick that she'd been sucking in his mouth and watched her eyes grow somehow huger. "What?" he asked, pretending it hadn't been intentional.

"Just .._eww_!" she laughed, then showed him her half. "You took the half I was—" her words faltered as he made a point of slurping and licking the stick she'd just had in her mouth. "—sucking ..on..."

He smiled, and pulled it out of his mouth, then offered it to her: "Sorry, did you want it back."

"No!" she screeched. "That's disgusting! You could catch germs that way! Just learned that in health class, hello!"

He smiled and leaned back, looking at the sky once more. "What do you think happens when you kiss someone, Serena?"

"_Blech!_" she said, the thought of someone's SPIT being on her food making her want to hurl. Even if he had a point. She quipped, "Well, maybe that's why I'M not going to kiss a guy anytime soon."

He just kept sucking on that stick though. She figured he'd probably already slurped off her spit and was working on a clean part of it now. She stuck her own candy stick in her mouth. Well, maybe the peppermint was hot enough to burn off saliva. She pulled the candy out for closer inspection.

Which elicited a chuckle from Darien. She turned and stuck her tongue out at him.

With lightening reflexes, Darien playfully reached out and put his candy on her lips; she squealed, and he took advantage of her open mouth and swiped the candy stick into her mouth further.

When she pushed the candy stick out with her tongue, spitting and giggling, Darien smiled wryly at her, then coolly put the candy she'd just slobbered all over BACK in his mouth.

He looked over at her, expecting more squeals, but froze when he saw her staring at his mouth on the candy. He said, "It's not bad, even if it's YOUR candy," he teased. He looked away, knowing he'd pushed it too far.

But he froze again when she reached for the candy he was holding. Bracing himself for cruel rejection, he handed her the candy. He waited for her to do a 14-yr old's gambit and toss it in the closest garbage bin.

Instead, Serena smiled ruefully at him, and brought the candy to her mouth and tasted it gently, as if on a dare. Red alerts sounded in his mind when she licked it a few times, then glanced up shyly at him. Finally, she looked away as if in shame, and put their shared candy in her mouth.

She figured, if he could do it, she could. He was worldly and adult and didn't get bothered by such things; neither would she. Plus she had a slight curiosity what would possess someone to stick a used candy in their mouths. Was it the same thing that possessed people to kiss, or was is just ..hunger? She sorta laughed at the thought and looked back at him, candy stick stuck between her teeth as she smiled.

He sat up straighter and reached for his candy again; Serena didn't offer it, but when he took it, she released her teeth-tightened grip on it. He brought the candy to his mouth and sucked it in. "See?" he said with an unfortunate croak in his voice. "No big deal."

What was his obsession with peppermint sticks, she wondered aghast, and not a little bit breathless for his daring.

To his great discomfort, she bit her lower lip and stared up at him. He tried to smile, but was sorta stuck on looking at her candy-smeared lips. He was very, VERY pleased she didn't find him so creepy that she'd taken off running, even now that he was leering at her. He quickly looked away, trying to come off as more casual than he felt.

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Serena asked, "So is Koan the girl you've been acting all moony over?"

Darien was shocked out of his romantic reverie and actually laughed heartily, turning back to stare her in the eyes. "Um, *no*. She's seriously not my type." Then he looked at her and asked, "And who says I'm 'moony' over a girl?"

"Andrew?" she squeaked, not really stating it since it was a lie. But she had to cover her curiosity somehow. "We talked about how distant you've been the last few months. —It has to be a girl."

Yeah, a girl with amnesia, Darien thought wryly.

But then Darien thought it would be okay to be partially honest with her, because indeed, "There's a girl," —he looked away shyly, sure she'd put two and two together. Even though he hadn't added that it was a girl he couldn't have yet; a girl who was a young 14, to his suddenly elderly-feeling 21. Almost 22. By the time he looked back over at her, Serena had stood up. "Hey, where are you going?"

Serena tried to play it cool, although she was a little offended that he'd practically begged for company yesterday without mentioning a damned girlfriend! Covering, or at least trying to, she said, "Well you don't want her to walk by and see me here with you!" She knew her voice was cracking uneasily; the Baka had made an ass of her again! She cursed herself for being upset at all about this baka's private life. "She must mean a lot to you," —for him to turn into a robot all semester.

Darien jumped up and stopped her with a decidedly awkward smile on his face. "Serena, —she's not really my girlfriend yet. …And even if she were, she wouldn't mind me sitting in the park with you." He didn't want Serena to leave what had been such a nice stolen moment for them.

Serena seemed to get angrier though. "Oh, okay." Beat. "—I'm not a threat to her."

"You're not!" he half-laughed, half-panicked. How could someone twist his words so quickly?

"What, because you think I'm a kid?" she asked with a prideful glare.

"No," he reasoned. Pulling out his smoothest Tuxedo Mask quips, he said, "She's not the jealous type." Okay, that was probably a lie, but he needed to not start a feud with his princess again. "And she wouldn't care what I do because, like I said, we're not exactly .._dating_. Really. Not yet."

"You're not dating her?" Serena asked, confused. Great, he's just in love with her. She rolled her eyes, irritated that her eyes were wet for reasons she couldn't discern.

"Right!" he said, jumping up and approaching Serena. The moment was unsalvageable, but maybe he could salvage a future moment or two.

Serena bit her lip and said, "You must be in love with her. And you're not going to get anywhere with her if she catches you here with ..with me, or Mina. —Or, or with that blue-haired girl _Coon_."

Darien thought wryly how he WAS trying to get somewhere with her by having her there, but chuckled darkly at Serena's desiccation of Koan's nickname again. "Serena, again, Koan is just a classmate."

"Okay, then who's the girl, Darien?" Serena asked, suspicious now. "A name."

Darien blanched, and quickly said, "What does it matter?"

Serena's brow furrowed, and she prepared to make her ferocious and dramatic exit. But she didn't know why was she getting so upset by a chance encounter with this rude baka! The food was good. But yeah, wasn't he weird to be sucking candy from HER mouth, when he had a girlfriend! Finally, she said, "Whatever, Chiba. Thanks for sharing. I gotta go."

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**MEANWHILE...****  
**In his UFO, Rubeus fretted that the rabbit hadn't used her powers again yet, and seemed completely untraceable. Koan's idea of blending in with the community to find a needle in the haystack was proving useless. Except for the one chance encounter they'd had in the park with the med student's little friend, whose name was Serena, and who looked suspiciously like the Neo-Queen and a bit like the Rabbit.

Koan's plan to use the arcade to chase down the Rabbit was on hold; Wiseman was now just as interested in the Serenity-lookalike as he was the Rabbit.

And now they had more orders involving changing the crystal points of the city to dark crystal points, and he and the sisters were plotting how to actually succeed with the Sailor Senshi around. Koan was insistent that they keep up their civilian identities since they may have actually FOUND fucking Neo-Queen Serenity, so it would be Beruche and at least one droid who would attempt the next crystal point.

A shrine.

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**Saturday**  
The following day, Darien decided he'd stake Serena out at the arcade again, because there was just no way she'd return to the park after her hasty exit yesterday. And Serena was certainly at the Crown Arcade, hair back to odangos, and completely milled about by friends. He went to his barstool and chatted with Andrew for a bit.

"One sandwich coming up!" Andrew said, "even for my so-called friend who can't be bothered to tell me about his girlfriend!"

Darien almost denied it automatically, but then realized Serena must have told Andrew. Darien stuck to some truth for this awkward encounter: "Yeah, sort of. More like, I'm hung up on a girl, and she doesn't really ..know it."

Andrew's eyebrows shot off his face. "Excuse me? -sounds like my girlfriend, Chiba. _'Imaginary woman'._ You know, the one who never gets jealous? Perfect in every way?"

Darien was surprised Serena had gone into that kind of detail, especially the exaggerated bit. 'Perfect in every way'? He shrugged uncomfortably. "What was I supposed to say?"

Andrew said, "So, what, you're scared Serena's after you so you make up a girl?"

"I didn't make up a girl. —entirely." Darien said, blushing. "And I'm not scared of Serena! I wanted to put her at ease. She thinks I'm some kind of social misfit."

Andrew said, "You are!" But then he chuckled and nodded: "Well, now all the girls are wondering about your mystery lady. —give a gaggle of teens a mystery, and you've got a mystery that NEEDS to be solved."

Darien blanched; he hadn't thought of the consequences of his half-truth. He chanced a glance behind him, where he saw the object of his affections behind her friends. Serena was talking to some guy.

He did a double-take: Serena was talking to some guy. Action had to be taken.

Before he'd thought it out entirely, he'd stood and walked past Lita and Mina, shoved his way through Rei, and finally reached Serena's booth. She looked up at him, "Oh, hi Dare!" she smiled, then turned back to talk to nameless guy who was about to become headless guy if he touched her hair again.

Darien grabbed her wrist, getting her attention, and said quietly, "Can I have a word with you? —Outside?"

She blushed furiously, knowing she'd been caught gossiping about him. When she got outside she opted to play it innocent. "What is it?"

He said, "Thanks for telling the whole ARCADE that I have a girlfriend!" He glowered, not mad about that at all, but actually about her letting some random jerk manhandle her after the innocent act yesterday.

"I didn't know it was supposed to be a secret!" she whispered back with a weak, startled smile, somewhat surprised at his anger.

"You asked why I'd been so *_quiet_*, remember? I thought I could trust you," Darien spat. "If I'd wanted my business broadcasted, I could have done that myself!"

Serena's eyes widened. "Oh," she said.

Darien glanced back up at her. He was glad she actually cared, and hadn't just blabbed for the sake of blabbing. He smiled inwardly and decided to push that angle a bit more. "So did Andrew put you up to it? Ask you if you could just wander by and start a conversation with me—?"

"What? —No!" Serena said, surprised and sincerely sorry now. She turned away, inwardly cursing her big mouth.

"How'd it come up, then?" Darien pushed, keeping a straight face.

"I asked Andrew about her," she said, wincing. Then quickly, "I figured since Andrew was your friend..." and let that thought trail. "I was just curious about her."

Darien said, "Well I was going to see if you wanted to try a picnic again one day, but if you're going to record everything I say and play it back to the arcade—!"

"I wouldn't do that!" Serena said, offended now, and hurt that she'd hurt his feelings. He had been really quiet lately; maybe he NEEDED a friend.

Darien cringed slightly at seeing her concern; but put that away so he could make a grand exit that hopefully would leave her on edge. He started by shaking his head ruefully.

She responded quite powerfully by grabbing his upper arm. "Okay, what happens between us will stay between us. Okay? Do you forgive me Darien?"

He sighed woefully, like he was struggling with the decision to trust her or not.

"Whatever," he said. "I've got a test Monday." He forced himself to pull away from her grasp, then walked away.

Serena was left standing alone, watching the quiet, angsty man leave. She had no idea why her heart was beating a mile a minute; she bit her bottom lip and pondered how ratty it was to blab everything she heard to the girls and Andrew. Sure, she'd wanted to hear more about this perfect woman he was in love with, but he obviously hadn't told anyone else about it or they wouldn't have wondered what was bothering him.

Maybe this wench wasn't so perfect after all, Serena thought. He wasn't shouting about her from the rooftops. Maybe some of his desire to have a confidant to confide in was for him to explore how terrible this woman really was! Maybe ..maybe, Darien _NEEDED_ her.

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Darien turned around after walking a few blocks; she'd disappeared back into the arcade. Maybe he would get another stolen moment with her after all.

'Whatever', he chuckled angrily, remembering her parting words to him yesterday. If that term of nonchalance unsettled her as much as it had unsettled him all night, then she'd surely be back.

Back for what? Some friendly companionship, he decided. If he could strike a solid friendship with her, or at least be on speaking terms with her, without scaring her off, he ought to be able to move that into the 'something more' category soon after she started getting her memories back. He wouldn't have to wait on the sidelines for her to grow up; he'd be able to steal the occasional touch.. maybe even a kiss, sooner.

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**Sunday**  
"So tell me about this perfect girl," Serena said, sitting on the blanket he'd splayed out for his own personal picnic.

Darien kept his eyes closed, laying back on the ground and letting his imagination wander to the Silver Millennium. "I already did, Serena," he said lazily. "Why don't you tell me about your boyfriends."

The bubbly blonde he dreamed about constantly was again rooting around through his picnic basket, which gave him the most immense pleasure he thought he'd ever felt. Stolen moments with her were a gift from above that he hoped he could look forward to every single day, even if they didn't meet up as often as that.

He opened his eyes when her rooting stopped, and watched as her face lit up. But then she blushed deeply, and looked down at him wide-eyed. Understanding, maybe? Darien slyly closed his eyes before she noticed he was watching her. He hoped.

"An double-fudge ice cream sandwich?" she asked.

"Oh, is that in there?" he said, sitting up and leaning on an elbow as if surprised that her dream treat just happened to find its way into his basket accidentally. "Well, help yourself."

Serena didn't have to be told twice; she ripped it open and started devouring it, trying not to groan in ecstasy. Darien smiled at himself.

"Now," he said, "I believe you were going to tell me about your boyfriends?"

Serena wiped her mouth with the back of her hand, then mumbled, "You're the closest I have to a boyfriend."

Darien's breath caught at that; he wondered about its implications. Was she stating an attraction to him? He countered her remark seriously with, "I'm a first year med student; you're still in junior high school. I don't count."

He did count, he hoped; but what he was really shooting for was knowledge about those junior high boys, if any might be molesting her against his wishes. He chanced at glance her way, and was startled by what he saw. A pensive look; she was thinking. About him? Darien swallowed hard and reached in for a roast beef sandwich as casually as he could manage.

"How old's the girl you're _'involved'_ with?" Serena asked.

Darien had to lie; saying '14' would out his ass faster than transforming into Tuxedo Mask would. He coughed, smiled, and croaked out, "She's *_timeless_*."

"As long as she's not imaginary," Serena said quirkily, then scrunched her nose. 'Timeless'; she laughed. "Oh wait a minute, she's not some really, really old crone now, is she?" Because that would be disgusting. He was way too cute for that.

Darien twisted a smile, "She's not imaginary, and she's certainly not a crone." He got caught up watching her hair spill magically over her back, longed to touch it.

She sat up as if hearing his thoughts, and shoved the remainder of the ice cream sandwich to his face. He almost protested, but fell into temptation. He held her wrists near his face and stared at her as he took a bite of the proffered ice cream. His body's temperature went up as he watched her stare at him. He kept his hands on her wrists, holding the ice cream against his mouth while he chewed and swallowed.

When he went to take another bite, she wriggled in his grasp, scooted closer to him, and then said, quite breathlessly, "Don't eat it all!"

He smiled wryly at her, but didn't release her wrists. Eyes wide, she dove in for the last bite, and he died of pleasure as her hair spilled over his arms. He imagined her tongue licking the wrapper just inches from his face.

She giggled with the mouthful of ice cream and fell back to her side, completely oblivious to the effect she'd had on him.

Then her beeper went off. She glared up at him, as if embarrassed, bent forward, then hugged him lightly. "I've got to go, but —" she couldn't put together what she had to say. Especially not after she felt his arms encircle her lightly. She pulled back and kissed him on the cheek, a thing she'd never done before, and quickly got up: "I didn't mean anything by that," she stumbled over her words. "Just, thanks for the food."

She seemed to curtsy before turning and running off at a quick clip. Darien remained frozen in place, even knowing he'd be transforming into Tuxedo Mask really quickly. He focused hard on that last day in the Negaverse, when she'd pulled a Tuxedo Mask and leapt in front of Beryl's attack to spare him. He remembered feeling her arms around him; he remembered the expression on her face just now. Dammit, she HAD to be remembering, he thought fitfully. Then he transformed into Tuxedo Mask at her faraway call.

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**Attack on the Shrine**  
Rini had been at Rei's when the problems started, and Serena was late getting there. She rushed in to do a quick Halation on the droid, as instructed by Sailor Mercury, but was distracted by her pink-haired cousin racing through the shrine like she was being chased. When her back was turned, the droid almost killed Sailor Moon, but a single flying rose had stunned the thing long enough for Sailor Moon to do her job.

When the action died down, Rei picked up Rini and walked over to the sullen Serena. "Here," Rei spat out, "You watch her! You're never here anymore—"

"What?" Serena choked out, hurt. She grabbed Rini and cuddled her, "It's not her fault or mine that the shrine was attacked today, Rei!"

Ami said, "Serena, we need to have a —talk."

.

Rini asked if she could go join Chad and Grandfather, who were busy cleaning up the dance room. Serena, still shaken, kissed the top of the girl's head and said, "Sure, just —be careful. Please?"

When the Senshi were alone, with Luna, Rei flew into Serena: "You said you'd be here to help us with the shrine!"

Serena looked at Mina, who was the only one who knew that Serena had been meeting Darien at the park. Serena said, "I'm sorry. I was later than I thought I'd be—"

Luna and Rei both lit into her about irresponsibility, making Serena feel terrible. "I didn't know this would happen today! At the SHRINE! I'm really sorry!"

Lita said, "Oh, let up Rei, she had good reason to not be here." Lita smiled at her knowingly.

Making Serena pale; damn, 'secret liaisons' were supposed to be secret!

Rei said, "Well YOUR little cousin in there who's NOT a cousin seems to DRAW the droids OUT!"

"Rini ASKED to come," Serena said softly.

"And YOU were supposed to come with her!" Rei spat back. "Look, I don't mind her here, Serena, but she's Senshi business, and you're supposed to be around occasionally!"

As the girls broke up and left, Mina slipped up to Serena and said, "Darien?"

Serena rolled her eyes. "He's in love with someone," Serena said sullenly. "BUT THAT'S A SECRET, OKAY?"

Mina smiled knowingly. As did Lita, who'd slipped up behind them. "Did you ever find out who it is?"

Serena turned beat red and got upset: "Look, no I didn't. But he said he wouldn't talk to me anymore if I let his secret out, so just please keep it quiet!"

Lita scrunched up her face. "Wait a minute... YOU'RE seeing him every day, and he wants YOU to keep it secret?"

"Please don't," Serena said quietly, turning to watching Rini dancing with Chad and Grandfather. They looked so sweet, and after such a bad day at the shrine. "He's really nice and —and he has nothing to do with the rest of my life. It's like ..an escape." Beat. "But I guess I've been shirking my other duties."

Luna sat back quietly, not letting anyone know she was there. So, the young Endymion was making his move.

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**A Week Later (****Sunday****)**  
Darien and Serena's secret liaisons in a public park continued every day until Sunday, when he'd shown up hopefully, but she hadn't. After stashing his basket behind the trees at 'their spot', he transformed and zipped around town looking for her, somewhat hurt that she'd neglected their unofficial 'date', but hoping there was a good reason for it.

He'd found her at Rei's, and Luna was there with all the girls. It had been such a quiet week, given that there was a new enemy afoot, that he hadn't even considered when she was doing her training. But he still wanted to see her. He watched her from the treetops as the girls pummeled each other over and over; noticed Serena pulling rank, to Luna's distress, when she wanted to quit for the day. He wondered if she'd wanted to break away to go see him.

He had waited until their long session was over, and realized the girls were having a sleepover. It became evident to him that she wasn't going to get away, not even for an arcade visit, so he returned to the park alone, then dumped the spoiled food in the trash. Wondered if it would be too forward to ask to exchange numbers so they could talk.

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**Monday**  
After school on Monday, she bolted to the park to find Darien, and was relieved to find him in 'their' spot. Biting her lip, she wandered up to him, wondering idly if he'd shown up yesterday.

"No," he lied as she sat down. "But I worried that you might show up; I was thinking it'd be nice to have your cell number?"

She smiled wryly: "Mine for yours." Then, "But if you ever get _Timeless_ to go out with you, wouldn't she get mad if I'm in your phone?"

Darien had almost forgotten the 'girlfriend' and almost blew it. He quickly recovered and said, "No —no she wouldn't mind if I have friends, Serena."

"Ah, that's right," Serena said wryly. "Forgot the 'perfect' part."

She grabbed his phone and entered her info... "Want a picture?"

"Yes," he said, far too quickly, eliciting a delightful laugh from her. He took the phone back and quickly snapped a picture of her, then a few more.

"Making a movie?" she smiled, wanting him to hurry it up so she could get to her phone and grab a snappie of him.

"Hold on," he said, snapping a few more pictures. "—I just can't get all that hair in here," he smiled, then set his phone down and untwisted her odangos.

Serena's mouth opened to protest, but his fingers were moving so deftly through her hair, and his playing with her hair was making her feel very, very warm inside. She bit her lip in confusion, staring at his abdomen though his strait-laced button-down shirt, and wondering how such simple touches from him could leave her feeling like a zombie sometimes. At nighttime, she found herself thinking about each and every touch they'd shared, wondering if he'd noticed how she would want the touch to go on longer. And fantasizing about what might have happened if the touch had gone on longer.

Darien finger-combed her hair down over her ears, then he scooted closer and had her lay against the blanket. She laughed nervously, "This is a lot of trouble for a cell picture."

"Shut up," he said teasingly. Biting his bottom lip, he lay her back and splayed her hair against the blanket in a halo around her face. She giggled, but he said, "Shut up," smiling as he did so.

And then he started snapping pictures. He noticed she was self-conscious about this, and said, "When I think of you, I think of our picnics, and your hair, and your eyes... I'm just trying to capture all that."

She jumped to her knees, right in front of him, and stuck her tongue out; he snapped the shot; she squealed: "That wasn't for my _PICTURE_, Darien!"

He looked at it with satisfaction, knowing he now had about 40 pictures of Serena on his phone, and was more than happy to tease her that the tongue one was be her pic.

After their picture silliness and some sandwiches, she lay back lazily on his blanket, noticeably closer to him than she'd ever been before. He basked in the warmth of her body, and even turned his head slightly to her to inhale her scent.

She blurted out, "Any news on the girlfriend front?"

Darien chuckled. "She's fine." He hated seeing her discomfort when he kept the answers vague; and considered telling her that there was no other girl he was interested in after all, but was sure that would make him look like even more of a pervert than he felt.

"I thought you were going to make your move?" she protested, but with a smile.

"Uh, —I did," he said, considering his move with Serena Tsukino last week quite a move indeed. "I think you could say we're dating now."

Serena was strangely crushed, but hid it behind a smile. "Bout time," she said, hoping her disappointment hadn't shown through as much as she'd thought it had.

He picked up one of her ponytails, breaking into her thoughts. "Any news on the boyfriend front?" he teased lightly.

"Actually," Serena started, not really thinking about any stupid 'boyfriends'. "Chad asked me to go to the movies with him."

"Chad," he repeated dumbly -he hoped without sounding like a homicidal maniac who was interested in finding out this Chad's home address.

"Yeah," she said. "Chad. Rei's friend. I'm not sure why he asked *me* out because he's clearly into Rei. He works with her grandfather—"

"If he liked her he'd ask her." Darien said, not amused in the least.

"Who knows," she said, although she disagreed with him that the guy might like her. Chad was always around Rei, period. He was _'safe'_ for Serena because she knew he liked Rei.

Darien asked, through gritted teeth, "And you said—?"

Serena looked up and tried to smile. "I was GOING to say no, because he's so clearly head-over-heels with Rei! —But I wanted to be able to tell you that someone finally asked me out and I had a potential _'first date'_!"

And that was the truth. She loved these secret picnics with Darien the Baka, and the last thing she wanted him to think was that she was trying to date him. That had to be the reason he kept asking about her boyfriends. And if she didn't have some progress to report to him soon, he might not consider her innocent picnic friend material anymore.

"Good," Darien said, sitting up and starting to pack his things. "I've got to leave early today—"

"What?" Serena said, hurt, grabbing his arm. "Darien, we haven't been here that long yet!" she protested. Her face colored when she realized an hour had passed.

Darien's heart did that pounding thing that it always did whenever Serena grabbed him; his stomach flipped up into his throat and he froze. He hadn't expected these trysts of theirs to encourage her to date other guys!

In a flash Serena was playfully up over him, pushing him back down and giggling. "You study way too much! You owe me a little more time than this!"

Darien was plastered on the ground with his little waif draped over half his body, pinning him playfully. Both her legs were splayed over one of his, her chest was pressed against his chest, and her arms were on either side of his chest. She had completely startled him with her lithe young body all over him, and he wasn't sure how to respond. His hands moved to her waist, preparing to lift her off his belly.

But he wasn't expecting her to start wriggling on him, which she was doing to move her arms down and dig her fingers into his ribcage — to tickle him into compliance. Unfortunately, his body wasn't responding to the tickling as much as it was to the wiggling of his under-aged love rubbing against him. He moved quickly on instinct, flipping her over on her back with her hands pinned over her head.

Laughing, she screamed and kicked, trying to get out from under him. She finally noticed his expression darken as she squirmed and giggled under him. Confused why he wasn't retaliating in kind, her smile faded away, as well. She breathlessly watched something confusing play over his face that nearly scared her. He was angry at her. And why shouldn't he be; he'd just announced that he was officially dating _Timeless_, and Serena had idiotically thrown herself on him, albeit under the guise of play. Tears stung her eyes, knowing their picnics were coming to an end now.

Darien's suddenly raging erection was pressing into her belly, and if that hadn't clued her in to his deceptions, the kiss he was about to ravish her with surely would. Stunned at his own thoughts, he quickly jumped off of her and turned to sit, heart and other things throbbing painfully enough that he couldn't quite stand yet. She got up on her knees behind him and nervously said, "I'm sorry, Dare —I just didn't want you to leave so soon. I was just playing."

When he didn't respond, she slowly gathered her things and left sullenly, embarrassed that she'd ATTACKED him when he was clearly too stodgy for that kind of thing. She figured he was probably so focused on that stupid girl he loved that he was worried Serena might have sullied him somehow.

She wasn't even sure why she tried so hard to be his friend. He obviously didn't want or need anyone besides _Timeless_ and that was fine, he could have her; she had plenty of friends. Including CHAD, dammit. Chad wouldn't have been offended if she'd tickled him. Chad wasn't a flaming asshole—!

Darien caught up and grabbed her arm, and when she turned around, face tear-streaked, he was even less sure what to say.

Serena stood there glaring at him — what now? "I was just playing, Darien. I'm _sorry_," she declared haughtily, trying not to show the injured pride that was clearly evident anyway.

"It —you just caught me off-guard, Serena," he said as quickly as the words could form.

"Sure," she glowered. "That's why you threw me off of you. **Whatever!**" And she turned to leave again—

Darien stopped her again and said, "Would you give me a second?" He stood her in front of her squarely and said, "You have to think about what it looks like when we .._do that!"_

Her eyes grew wide; he was worried about that old crone _Timeless_ bitch walking by and catching Darien having actual fun. She spat, "Sorry; I didn't know tickling was a crime!"

He chuckled darkly, grabbing her hand: "You're a lot of fun, Serena, and I love spending time with you." Then he gently touched her face, started tapping her temple: "But we have to keep in mind how it looks to everyone else in the park."

She glowered at him, untrusting. "People tickle each other all the time Darien." She was sure he wouldn't mind _Timeless_ tickling him at her leisure. And it made her more furious now to think about that.

He grabbed both her hands, not wanting her to misunderstand: "Nobody's ever done that to me before. —And I'm just too old to be sitting in a public park with a young girl jumping on me like that! It's not going to look right."

She rolled her eyes; there was her age again.

He'd grabbed her hand to pull her back, but she focused on how _Timeless_ probably got the best of him while she was left with all these RULES. She said, "So the latest rule for me is 'hands off'. I can't touch you," she said, hating to hear those words for reasons she couldn't quite grasp yet.

"Latest?" he asked skeptically, feeling quite the opposite, that their friendship was very open and free-spirited, not bound with rules and regulations.

"**One**," Serena spelled it out, "I can't tell anyone what we talk about; **two**, I can't tell my friends that we run into each other in the park. And now **three**, I can't touch you." She smiled through angry tears, "I think you need to find another friend who you aren't embarrassed to be seen with."

This time, when he grabbed her, she twisted away angrily and took off running.

Darien ran after her fueled by irrational passion. But he stopped before he could catch her; he was back to "catch her and ..._what_?" Declare his love for her? Admit there was no girlfriend besides her? Admit he didn't want her going on a date with any 'Chad'?

Instead, he walked glumly back to their picnic spot, checking out his pictures of her on his phone the whole way. He fought the temptation to call her. She'd probably delete him if he did it so soon.


	3. Chapter 3

**The Silver Crystal's Prerogative**

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**Chapter 3**

Darien was sitting in his dark, cold apartment, trying to get his mind off of Serena and somewhat on cellular biology. He'd picked through several texts, started several papers, entered data into a chart for his dissertation, —but his heart just wasn't in it.

He stood up and walked to his bedroom. He stared out the sliding glass doors for a moment, thinking of how poorly he'd handled today's picnic with Serena. He _knew_ she was developing feelings for him, although he also knew she was probably blissfully unaware of that fact herself. Or at least, she had been, until he'd offended her this afternoon. He'd seen the hurt in her eyes, and the confusion. Hell, he'd caught her crying, even though she'd tried hard to hide it from him. He'd hurt her — unintentionally of course. The whole thing had been a crazy misunderstanding stemming from her innocence. She'd had no idea how close he'd come to kissing her; and she seemed to honestly believe that she was an embarrassment to him.

Even now, he knew he'd have to somehow explain himself to her, without leaving her with the impression that he was a pervert. He also _had_ to keep her away from Chad. Not because he was worried that she'd fall in love with someone else, but rather because he knew his Princess would have never accepted a date with that slimeball if it hadn't been for _his_ _own_ constant queries about boys asking her out. Again, she'd misunderstood his intentions, apparently thinking he wanted her to date boys. He sighed dejectedly and wondered if that stupid Silver Crystal hadn't been right about keeping him away from her.

While wondering if it would be too early to call her — she'd had almost two hours since the picnic to simmer down — he thought he heard his ringtone sounding off from the kitchen. He dashed through the halls and over furniture like an Olympic hurdler to answer it, hoping to see Serena's picture with her tongue sticking out at him. He sighed dejectedly at the dark phone; it hadn't rung at all.

He finally sunk into a hard chair in front of one of the texts he needed to inhale before Monday's exams. The material wasn't particularly hard; he just wasn't particularly interested. He looked at the phone and scrolled through her pictures, then pulled up her phone number, considered hitting 'Send'. He finally put the phone down, though, and pushed it off his textbook. He'd give her another hour, right before bedtime. Claim that he didn't want her to go to bed angry.

As his eyes started lolling over the formulas in his textbook, he felt a sharp pull from his bond with his Princess. Serena had just transformed, but unlike her usual transformations, she was instantly in distress. He stood quickly as his transformation took over; and as her fear increased exponentially through their bond, he found himself flying through the evening air towards her.

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He flew into the grocery store to see a giant walking avocado lobbing exploding food items at Sailors Jupiter and Moon; they were too busy dodging to get off their own attacks on the droid. He wielded his extending cane and struck out at the droid, noticing that large sections of the store were burned — Sailor Mars must be around somewhere. The droid saw him and happily engaged him; she jumped onto a giant watermelon display, sending the giant fruit hurtling at him. He lost his footing and was down, with a large eggplant headed his way.

Sailor Mercury appeared at the door and instantly froze the offending eggplant… which didn't really help since it was still hurtling at him. He rolled, and the eggplant exploded into ice chips instead of fire and shrapnel. He jumped up in time to see Sailor Moon using a flying kick at the avocado; she landed a hit, but got bounced into the tomato stand. He lunged for the droid again, and the droid had to turn and protect herself against his attacks. "NOW Sailor Moon!" he yelled out, increasing his attacks so the droid would be fully engaged for the moments needed for Moon to dust it.

Unfortunately, he had to duck one of Mars' Mandala attacks; as he looked towards her target, he saw two witchy-looking ladies, both with Black Crescent Moons featured prominently on their foreheads. He got slashed by the avocado droid as he watched the Black Moon women disappear from the battle. Fortunately, Sailor Moon dusted the droid before it could get in a second attack against him.

He stood as steadily as he could manage, and quickly looked for Sailor Moon. All the Senshi were coated in rotted fruit, but only for a second, as the dusting of the droid seemed to instantly undo all the damage done to the market. Unfortunately, _he_ was still damaged by the droid's slicing cut across his abdomen. He ignored the injury and swooped through the vegetable section to capture his weakened Sailor Moon, ostensibly to congratulate her on her battle. Maybe where he'd failed with Serena that afternoon, he could make some headway with her alter ego.

But tonight, Sailor Moon completely brushed him off! She'd been lifted to her feet by Sailors Jupiter and Mars, and then turned her back on him to quickly make her way out of the store. He stumbled after her anyway, thinking maybe they shouldn't be in the middle of a grocery store to have their toe-curling flirtation session. But before Sailor Moon was out the door, his Princess actually took Sailor Jupiter, who Darien knew to be the always-besotted Lita, and shoved her at him. He caught Jupiter without taking his eyes off of Moon, but Moon disappeared outside. As Jupiter blushed in his arms and started batting her eyelashes, he dropped her and ran for the exit. Then a tiny black cat appeared in the door, shooting him looks that were probably meant to kill.

He nearly burst through the wall to get out from inbetween Sailor Jupiter and Luna, but his heart skipped a beat wondering if maybe Serena had chilled towards 'Tuxedo Mask' because she was trying to sort out her feelings about Darien Chiba. Nobody, especially not Sailor Moon, gave him, _Tuxedo Mask_, the cold shoulder. He'd nearly kissed her as Tuxedo Mask before — actually, had kissed _Serena _as Tuxedo Mask when she was drunk once — and he usually made sure to tease her relentlessly with his suave behaviors before taking off into the night. Which she usually LIVED for, it seemed. Hell, a few weeks ago she'd COME BACK to a battle to see if he were still there!

But tonight, Sailor Moon was having none of it.

Mask smiled as he made his way back to his apartment; his Princess was quite besotted with one Darien Chiba, a.k.a. _him_. And judging by Luna's attitude, Serena hadn't kept it a secret.

NOW, he could study. Sure, it was with a wide smile on his face. Thoughts of Serena being in love with him, without her even knowing their extensive history, made his studying easier somehow. But by the time he remembered to give his Princess a good night call, he cursed himself that it was far too late at night to do so.

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Darien made his way into the arcade early the next day, knowing there'd be no way Serena would show up for their picnic after that terrible scene at the park yesterday, but hoping to make some kind of amends with her since it was obvious to him, and hopefully now to her, that she had some kind of feeling for him. Maybe on her turf, he could approach her and start over. He knew he had to do SOMETHING, especially now that it seemed her alter ego wouldn't give his alter ego the time of day.

Serena was so sweet that he was sure she'd understand his actions yesterday if he could just explain it right. Maybe, if she seemed that interested, he could just be somewhat honest with her and tell her he'd like to date her, and that's why he'd acted so strangely yesterday. He'd blame it on jealousy about Chad, which she might even appreciate...

Serena was indeed at the arcade, but he nearly choked when he saw her sitting in a booth with a long-haired boy he supposed had to be the ubiquitous Chad. And if that weren't bad enough, the two were sharing a milkshake. Fury pumped through his veins as he realized that somehow, that damned Chad had found a way to con her into meeting him at the arcade. It flitted through his mind for a second that maybe Sailor Moon wasn't ignoring Tuxedo Mask because of _him_, but because of Chad. Chad must have called her after the disaster picnic at the park yesterday.

When Serena saw Darien standing at the door staring at her, she made a point of tickling Chad right there in the booth. The oblivious Chad spit out his milkshake and turned on her with a wide grin, tickling her mercilessly, both laughing. Darien turned away and walked to the counter to order something, to get his sudden rage under control. He knew damned good and well that girl had a crush on him, if nothing else — you don't shed tears over a man unless you have some feeling for him, nor do you push away a long-time crush on a superhero _for Chad_. He also knew that less than 24 hours ago, Serena had declared she had no interest in Chad at all. Darien knew this show with Chad was for his benefit. But he'd be damned if he were leaving. He just wouldn't look over there until that incessant giggling stopped. —Unless it went on too long, at which point, all bets were off. He'd transform and scare the shit out of that sleazy, unkempt Chad freak, then dump him into the Pacific. Or at least on a deserted island IN the Pacific.

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Rei left the table where she'd been glumly watching everyone — particularly, her friend Chad with her _supposed_-best friend Serena. She figured if Chad and Serena were going to openly flirt with each other, they were damned well going to have to do it right in her face. She mustered up the courage and approached their table and sat across from them, causing the tickling couple to straighten up really quickly. "Hey," Rei said, with as casual a smile as she could muster.

Serena blushed and sat back against the booth, putting a good distance between herself and Chad. "Hey Rei! Have a good day at school?"

"Fine," Rei smiled woodenly. "Not as good a day as you two are having, apparently."

Serena's mouth dropped open: "It was just _tickling_!" What was WITH people? she wondered angrily. She'd definitely seen that Darien Chiba snob come in, and had wanted to prove that there was nothing at all wrong with tickling people. Unfortunately, Rei was taking it the wrong way, too.

Serena glared at Chad: "Go tickle Rei," she ordered.

Chad laughed: "YOU go tickle Rei."

Rei rolled her eyes and simmered, figuring Serena probably _did_ think it was just silly innocent fun. But to HER, and probably the rest of the arcade, and all the sane people in the world, it looked like groping. Chad had never tried doing that to her! She glanced up at Chad, who was beet red, but staring at _Serena_. Rei sighed and looked away from them both, but refused to leave. She'd leave her dark cloud sitting right over Tweedle Dee and Tweedle Dumbass if it would keep their hands off each other.

Rei asked blandly, "And how did the curry cook-off with Rini go today?"

Serena nodded, but had her attention on the counter — probably on Andrew, as usual, Rei thought glumly. This girl, her Princess, was certainly starting to act the part of 'princess' with the number of suitors she was demanding attention from. For just a second, Rei wondered if Beryl didn't have a point. She cringed at herself though; Beryl was evil. Serena was just stupid. Serena would grow out of it. BOY how she needed to find the girl a prince. Maybe introduce the idea of a 'prince' that she should be saving herself for? One she never had the opportunity to meet in their former lives? Yeah, Serena would buy some cock-and-bull story like that, easy.

Serena said proudly, "Lita and I did Rini proud." Then added, "I TOLD you that you should come, Rei!"

Rei glowered, "I don't DO cooking; and I had plenty excitement just helping you '_buy the __ingredients__'_, thank you." She rolled her eyes at Serena, who didn't even seem to notice Chad scooting closer to Serena. No no, because Serena was focused entirely on the counter, where Andrew surely stood.

Chad smiled, "Next time, Sere, just ask _me_. I love cooking. And unlike Rei I'd LOVE to get to know your little cousin a little better."

Chad purposefully avoided looking at Rei, which wasn't lost on Serena, and Serena wondered what the hell Chad was doing. He was putting on quite a show for Rei, Serena felt sure; but came off a little creepy with his desire to get to know her 8 year old niece. She tried to scoot away from him a little more, but realized she'd land in the floor if she did. She would normally make an excuse to go get another milkshake, but Darien was up there, occasionally glancing back at them, surely thrilled that her tickling session with Chad had exploded in her face, and now she had a clingy Chad AND a pissed best friend sitting at the booth.

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Darien, remembering that Serena had said she thought Chad _liked_ Rei, found this whole situation interesting. Rei had moved to their table, and the table had grown quiet and uncomfortable. He was still pissed at how close Chad was sitting beside Serena, but decided if Rei could stomach it, so could he.

He casually moved to their table and asked if the seat beside Rei was free. Rei smiled up and said glumly, "Sure! Join the party," then winked over at Serena, knowing this guy usually brought out the worst in Serena. A few of those screeches from Serena and maybe Chad wouldn't be so interested anymore.

"What's up?" Chad asked Darien, slinking his arm around Serena's shoulders.

Darien looked directly at Serena and said softly, "I was stood up. Had nowhere else to go."

Serena's eyes widened for a moment; she looked up at Darien and asked, "Your girlfriend stood you up?"

Darien stared at Serena dumbly, but finally said, "She dumped me." As Serena's mouth opened in shock, he added sarcastically, "You seem _surprised_."

Serena stared at Darien, realizing he was serious. "Of course I'm surprised, Darien! I thought…." Serena pushed out of Chad's awkward embrace, irritated that he was clearly using her to get Rei jealous, but refocused on the sad-looking friend she'd secretly shared her afternoons with for the last several weeks. "—I'm sure it was just a misunderstanding, Darien," she tried smiling warmly at him. She hated seeing him look so glum, no matter how bad he'd hurt her feelings yesterday.

Darien stared dumbly at her. He opened his mouth to speak, but found himself speechless.

Chad glanced over at Darien: "Don't worry, dude! Us guys bounce back quickly from **rejection**." He snuck a peek at the local temple priestess-in-training, hoping she got the point. Chad was moving! on!

Serena slugged Chad in the arm: "Darien's not like that, Chad." She smiled warmly at Darien: "I wouldn't worry about it, Dare. She'll come crawling back to you, don't you worry!"

Rei glanced up at Serena. Had she just called Darien Chiba '_Dare_'? Sure, they didn't fight like cats and dogs anymore, but only because he'd clammed up like a shell and wouldn't speak to anybody.

Serena continued, "You're too great a guy for her to just dump!" She blushed at Rei's open-mouthed stare, then clammed up. _What? _She was just being nice! —But to herself, she thought that if _Timeless_ was stupid enough to let a hunky guy like Darien go, she didn't deserve him, no matter how great Darien thought she was.

Darien furrowed his brow at Serena, but asked cryptically, "You really think she'd take me back?"

Rei kindly suggested, "It's not a gimme, Darien. Maybe you should go after her, see what's wrong —before it's too **late**." She looked at Chad as she emphasized that last word.

Chad snapped back to Rei, "Maybe _Darien_ here was the one who was too **late**, Rei. Ever think of that?" He picked up Serena's hand and said, "Maybe he took his own good time, and that ship has SAILED!"

Hurt washed over Rei's eyes, and even though Serena jerked her hand away from Chad's grasp, Rei said, "I was **on **the damned boat when it sailed!" and jumped up angrily to leave.

Serena's eyes shot open when she realized Chad and Rei weren't talking about maritime adventures. She jumped up as well and caught Rei's hand: "I _hate_ metaphors!" and forcibly switched places with Rei, trying to shove Rei into the seat beside Chad. "Your boat is still right here—"

"I'm not GETTING on that boat!" Rei exclaimed. She glared at Chad and said, "It's not SEA-worthy!"

Chad glared back at the priestess who'd ignored him for so long, and said, "If it WERE sea-worthy, I'd sink it!"

Serena finally forced Rei down into the seat beside Chad, then bent over: "You're not going to SEA, Rei! You're in an arcade! Now **Sit!**"

Chad and Rei grumbled quiet death threats to each other as Serena slid into the booth next to Darien. Darien smirked and muttered quietly, "_Good jo__b."_

"It's all your fault," Serena said under her breath to the anti-tickling guy beside her. Then to Rei and Chad, she said angrily, "**And no more metaphors!**" As Rei and Chad continued arguing about boats anyway, Serena whined quietly to Darien, "I think I've started a naval battle."

When she glanced at Darien, he was staring at her warmly. She let go of the drama across the table and smiled back, remembering why he'd come over to the table to begin with: "Are you sure you're okay?"

Darien grasped her hand on the booth seat, surprising Serena. He didn't hate her, she thought warmly. He, he ..was just ashamed to be seen in public with her! Well, today it was okay; yesterday it wasn't. Today he was single; yesterday he wasn't... _Uh oh!_ Her mind starting going back over the events of yesterday, and quite audibly, she suddenly asked, "Oh Darien, it's not my fault that your girlfriend dumped you, is it?"

Darien was dumbstruck yet again, having thought she'd figured out that it was SHE he would have been waiting for today. But Rei laughed obnoxiously and asked, "Why would it be your fault?" To Darien, she jokingly asked, "Don't tell me she decided to start tickling you in front of your girlfriend!"

Serena's eyes flew open, and she looked at Darien!

Darien winced, and Rei yelped incredulously, "Oh, my God! _SHE DIDN'T!_"

"No!" Darien answered, first to Rei, then he turned more softly to Serena: "No, you didn't do anything wrong."

Yes she did! Tears came to her eyes unbidden: "I'll —I'll go apologize, Darien, I swear I wasn't thinking…!"

"SHOCK-ER!" Rei snapped, still jealous over Serena's little 'innocent' display just moments earlier with a guy on the rebound. She elbowed Chad for good measure.

Darien glared at Rei, then grabbing Serena's hands, he said, "You don't understand, Sere! I promise nobody saw that, there were no misunderstandings like that!"

Serena ignored Rei and Chad, focusing on Darien's comforting grasp on her hands, and his insistence that she wasn't a homewrecker. She squeezed his hand and mouthed, "Really?" —but... she'd started hanging out with Darien, really just to grab his food, and then maybe they got too friendly, and the _Timeless Girlfriend_ got word of it. And now Darien was protecting her feelings. "Did she hear about the picnics? Or see the pictures on your phone?" she asked worriedly.

"Picnics?" Rei asked. "Good Lord, Serena! You've been DATING someone else's BOYFRIEND?"

Serena's head hit the table; she'd never thought of it like that. Darien was clearly in love with _Timeless_ and Serena had ruined it. Some kind of friend she was! Some way to pay back the guy who'd taken her away from the drudgery of her real life every afternoon—

Darien slipped his arm around his slouched Serena and pulled her in to him: "Sere, it's nothing like that at all! I promise!" His heart stopped when she melted into his slight embrace... hell, he'd done _this _before, too. Images of him comforting this girl much this same way assaulted his vision as her hair spilled over his arm. She even smelled the same. His mouth went dry as he tried to think of a way to get them out of there, so he could explain everything.

Rei had surreptitiously slipped Darien's cell phone from across the table while he and Serena were freaking out. She quietly opened it and started flipping through the pictures. Her face suddenly dropped in confusion as she flipped through the pictures. She stared at picture after picture of Serena looking quite .._unlike herself_. Except for the one with her sticking her tongue out at the camera.

And then, she grew shocked that even though there were TONS of pictures on the phone, Serena was the ONLY one in there. She went through them again, noticing the time and effort put into each snapshot. Either Darien was a professional photographer, or he thought a whole lot of Serena.

"Wow, they're all Serena!" Chad said dumbly, looking over Rei's shoulder.

Getting the attention of Darien across the table, who bound across the table and snatched his phone from Rei's mesmerized eyes. "That's RUDE, Rei," Darien spat.

"Sorry," Rei said bashfully, ducking her head to hide her glee that Serena was definitely not as available as she'd led Chad to believe.

Darien pocketed the phone. "Dammit that was private, Rei."

Rei said, to Darien, "I'd have never guessed."

Serena, blushing furiously, said, "Did you see his girlfriend or something?" And as she looked at the blank stares from the whole table, she added, "If I know who she is, I can go try to explain ..what all happened. She'll see I'm just a schoolgirl—"

"_You're _the girlfriend, Odango Atama!" Rei practically screeched. Yes, she could be happy that Serena and Chad weren't going to be an item, but then she thought back over the last few weeks, and Serena not showing up on time for their meetings, or leaving that little brat Rini in her care. OR _MAKING UP STORIES ABOUT DARIEN'S PERFECT GIRLFRIEND!_ The implied lies were piling up in Rei's mind: "No wonder you kept going on about how PERFECT Darien's girlfriend was! GEEZ! Stuck on yourself much!"

Serena glanced at Darien, who looked suddenly uncomfortable, and then her face reddened as she explained, "The pictures! —Rei, he took those pictures of me yesterday, just for fun!"

"There ARE no other girls on his phone, you DOLT!" Rei spat out. "Not only no other pictures, but no other GIRL's phone number!" Beat. "AT ALL! No mother, sister, aunt, …you're the ONLY female name in his whole phone!"

"That's not—!" Serena started, fumbling for explanations. "Well —he probably just deleted her today after she dumped him!" She looked at Darien for backup: "Tell her!"

Darien was staring at the table bashfully, about to speak, when Rei said, "Give it up, already! Darien, who dumped you today?"

Serena nodded at Darien, in tears at being so falsely accused by her so-called 'best friend': "Go ahead — tell her so she'll get off my back!"

Darien was still staring at the table bashfully, and said, "_You're_ the one who wasn't going to show up today, Serena."

Serena froze. Then stumbled, "Well, of course not, not after you threw me off you..." Her jaw dropped. Her mind flashed to yesterday afternoon, and she felt very confused. Suddenly self-conscious and checking out the crowd gaping at her in the arcade, she sat back down and said, quietly, "You were expecting _me_ today?"

Darien was surprised that she was surprised. He couldn't even bear looking at her though; keeping his eyes on the table, he nodded.

Chad, confused, said, "Serena's his girl?" Looking over at Darien, then Serena, he said, "_Dude, sorry_." He hadn't meant to try to make moves on someone else's girl. Heck, he didn't think Serena had ever dated anyone before. Much less some college guy. He hoped he wasn't about to get his ass kicked.

"Wait a minute," Serena said, thinking back to the first day she met him for a picnic. He said he had a girl he was interested in. Then later, it was a girl he'd made a move on. "But—" she looked over at Rei, who was looking at her like she was a complete idiot. She couldn't handle this. "Darien," she said softly without looking at him. "You wouldn't tell me her name, or ..I mean, none of this makes sense!"

She was shocked that Darien was trying to hold her hand now. She looked at Rei again and this time, she thought she saw a bit of pity. "No," Serena said firmly, refusing to let herself be humiliated any further. "This isn't how it sounds. —If, if I were his girlfriend, he wouldn't have asked me about my boyfriends, or—"

When Serena had jerked her hand from his and stood, he quickly followed. This was getting out of hand, and she was really getting upset —at him, and not in a playful, bantering way. He tried to put his arm around her waist to guide her away, hoping to guide her out of the arcade so they could go talk, but she looked at him in horror and burst out on the other side of the booth to head for the door, clearly upset.

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Serena had raced out of the arcade without even a goodbye to Andrew. She just _knew_ Darien would be on her heels. Had she really paid attention, she would have realized she could feel him following her, and not through common sense. Her every nerve stood on end with the strong feelings she felt coming from him, without even seeing him. She blamed it on her own paranoia and confusion.

When he caught up, he smoothly grabbed her hand and said, "NOW can we talk?" Now that he had her attention.

She turned on him angrily. "Yeah, now that my best friend thinks I've been LYING to her!"

"If she were your best friend you wouldn't have been trying to steal her boyfriend, Serena," Darien countered angrily himself. "What _WAS_ that back in there?"

"She doesn't LIKE him, and HE asked ME out," she huffed. She pushed Darien away and walked on quickly. She knew he was following her; she even sensed that he was angry, but why he was angry AT HER was not comprehensible to her. Without slowing a step, she said, "I know your girlfriend was a big secret before, but now that she's dumped you why wouldn't you BACK ME UP in there? SAY A NAME!"

"I *did*!" Darien said, nearly having to run to keep up with her. "Serena! **Stop!**"

She spun, but kept walking backwards, ready to take off if needed. "She ACCUSED me of ..of _everything_!" And besides everything else crashing down in her life right now — she'd almost lost Ami to a semester abroad study, and her own 'cousin' who needed her help seemed to hate her ever-living guts — now Rei was positive that Serena was a ..a backstabbing _whore_ or something!

"No," he corrected, speed-walking after her, trying to grab her arm to slow her pace. Missing. "Serena, wait a minute! Rei was just upset about Chad, but she didn't seem too upset when you left—"

"She thinks I'M your girlfriend, and you didn't tell her I'm not, so I look like this HUGE liar!" She angrily dabbed at her tears; how could he DO this to her? She glared at him: "I really liked you! I really liked hanging out with you, and —DO you even have a real girlfriend, Darien? —Were you even DATING anyone?"

He grabbed her arm finally, but just turned her forward again, walking her at a quick clip to help her calm down. "What do you call what we've been doing for the last few weeks? Every day we met up, ate together, enjoyed each other's company—"

"ARE YOU SERIOUS?" she flared angrily. "We were just meeting up as FRIENDS and you told me all about your _GIRLFRIEND_!" she spat. Confused. She shook her head, remembering everything she'd heard about _Timeless_. When Darien's arm went over her shoulders, she exploded: "Perfect! Timeless! Never jealous, very understanding—"

"You're upset that I don't have a different girlfriend?" he asked, somewhat surprised. He'd hoped for relief, even though he'd misled her somewhat.

"I'm upset that you LIED!" she said, seriously hurt that he'd lied. Had he lied? Directly? She was so confused her head was swimming. "DARIEN, Why? WHY did you do it? Were you trying to make a fool of me?" she looked at him, staring at her. Pushed him and stood in front of him, finally stopping their frantic trip away from the arcade. "What was the point?"

Panicked, he blurted out ruefully, "I just wanted to spend some time with you."

She was still too stunned to deal with this. She looked at him again, head swimming, and she was fighting tears now. "So there never was a girlfriend?"

Still out-of-breath, he gasped and nodded dumbly, reciting a line she'd said to him last week: "You're the closest I have to a girlfriend." He nervously licked his lips and added, "You're the closest I've EVER had to a girlfriend."

She shook her head angrily. "Why didn't you just SAY something, you.., you _IDIOT_!" Her emotions were so jumbled now; she batted back tears furiously and waited for his response.

He took a deep breath. "You didn't take me seriously, and I -I couldn't talk to you." He leaned back against a brick wall and sighed, still anxious that she'd take off again, but hoping a calmer demeanor would likewise calm her down. "It's only when you got curious about a girlfriend that you started taking me more seriously."

She looked away. She felt so stupid.

Finally, he said, "Serena, but I realized months ago that I'd been picking on you a lot because I was .._attracted_ to you."

She glanced over at that. "You," she said wryly, "are attracted to *_me_*."

Darien shrugged. "Yes."

She was steaming now, and repeated his words to her, "_'You don't count, Serena; I'm in med school, and you're just a stupid little junior high school girl__—__'_?"

"I didn't say it like that! —I just wanted to know if the younger guys were trying to date you, that's all!" Darien protested. Then winced; he knew he sounded like a pervert, but he knew she wouldn't believe the whole truth yet even if he'd told her.

Serena was watching the passing cars with interest. There had to be some sick joke in here, she thought. She looked at him and said, "You threw me OFF of you yesterday," she stammered. "You made me feel like a fool! That's _not_ how you treat someone you're supposedly attracted to!" She backed away, knowing she'd been pranked, though not understanding the nature of the prank yet.

He blushed furiously, but said, "Serena, that's _exactly_ how you treat someone you're attracted to! —If you want to go to my apartment and try tickling me again, I could GUARANTEE you my reaction would be different!"

She spun on him and said, "Oh, so in _PRIVATE_, you wouldn't throw me off you." She glared. "You're _ASHAMED_ to have your college friends see you with me in public!"

He glared at her incredulously. Was briefly speechless. "You're NOT that ignorant," he said aloud, immediately wishing he hadn't. "Let me rephrase that," he glared at her furious face. "You ARE that INNOCENT. Probably." He grabbed her up easily and pushed her against a car, ready to kiss her finally, maybe SHOW her how he felt. Then the car alarm sounded, making them both jump.

Breathless and startled, Serena took off running. He was on her heels, and when he caught up to her this time, he picked her up and held her still against a building, her legs dangling about a foot from the ground. She looked away, humiliated. He bent forward and whispered in her ear: "What you were doing yesterday made me want you in ways you're not ready for. You can't _imagine_ how bad I want you..." He miserably plastered a hand on her face, ran his thumb over her bottom lip, letting his head rest against the brick wall by her head.

Serena was overcome with every emotion in the book, but those things were buried now as his hand smushed her face. She froze and held her breath. This guy was scaring the shit out of her.

Darien continued, "I can put all that away until you _ARE_ ready." He gently traced his thumb around her lips. Into her ear, he breathed, "You're the girl, Serena. I want to keep seeing you. But please don't mount me like you did yesterday and expect me not to react." He let his lips rest against her cheek, kissed her cheek, then let her down. Backed up.

His hot breath and warm hands had made her heart pound faster than the running had. When he put her down, she stayed frozen to the spot, unsure what exactly to do.

But she certainly hadn't expected him to turn around and leave her there. Her eyes widened as she watched him walk away.

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"I wasn't sure you'd come."

Serena sat cross-legged on Rei's floor, near the fires. "Rei, I know you won't believe me, but I really didn't know I was his girlfriend." Beat. "Actually, I'm sure I'm NOT his girlfriend! He's never kissed me or anything." Until tonight, she remembered.

Rei was still pissed, though. She handed Serena a cell phone; when Serena looked at it like she'd never seen it, Rei rolled her eyes and said, "Go ahead. LOOK in it."

Serena unlocked the phone. "It's Chad's," she said, nonplussed. She went through his friends list, and saw what Rei wanted her to see. The picture associated with "Serena True Love", a bad enough nickname, had been marked up with hearts and ding-dong love sayings. Serena sighed: "I didn't do this, Rei. Chad did; and he probably did it to make you jealous. Beat. "I don't know how I got dragged into your thing with Chad, but—"

"Did you kiss him?" Rei asked, staring hollowly into her fires.

"Eww, _CHAD_?" Serena shook her head, "No! Rei, I've never kissed ANYONE! Ask Lita! I think it's gross!" Her breath caught, and she remembered Darien licking her peppermint stick. She shivered and insisted, "It IS gross!"

Rei turned on her, glaring. "I saw the pictures on Darien's phone, Serena."

Serena nearly glared, but those memories sorta came tumbling back, too. "Um, all those were from yesterday; we were just playing around."

Rei rolled her eyes: "You don't even sound like you believe yourself, Sere."

Serena looked down, then said, "But it's the truth."

Rei said, incredulously, "Serena, I _saw_ those pictures! Those weren't 'playing around' pictures."

That hurt Serena's feelings. Maybe she'd have to look at those pictures again, but she thought Rei was just being silly. And jealous. "Rei, it was all innocent."

"And the date with Chad?" Rei asked, turning around to stare at the girl she was sworn to protect.

Serena shrugged uncomfortably. "I wasn't expecting him to ask me out, and I would have said no, but ...well, Darien was always asking me which boys talked to me, and it was just embarrassing to hear about HIS girlfriend all the time but never have a boy to tell HIM about."

Rei glanced up at Serena seriously. "You mean he REALLY told you he had another girlfriend?"

"Yes!" Serena sighed with a measure of relief. "All the time, Rei. —At first, I just asked him why he'd been so moody for months. And then he started telling me about this.. this amazing girl he liked, and he was so embarrassed about it that he didn't want anyone to know. I encouraged him to ask her out..." She buried her hands in her hair, like she could squeeze some sense out of it. "I'm sure he said he did and that they were dating now!"

Rei shrugged. "Well, didn't you think it was a little strange for him to take _you_ out every day while he was supposedly into some other girl?"

Serena shook her head ruefully, letting a tear escape unbidden this time. "No! He had said he ate at the park every day and always brought plenty to share." She remembered the first time he'd told her about his picnics, and how he'd told her not to invite Mina. "I –I guess I just liked the food, and then I started to think he needed a friend."

"Did you _ever_ think of him like a boyfriend?" Rei asked, seriously curious now. Rei had gone out with Darien a few times last spring, back when he had a personality, which for some reason seemed like almost a lifetime ago now. But …well, she wasn't exactly sure what had happened. She just remembered being extremely _bored_ around him. She looked up at Serena, who seemed just as deep in thought as Rei was. "Serena?"

"Oh," Serena blushed. "It ..it just never crossed my mind!" She tried to smile. "Oh, he's cute and everything, but he made it clear that this woman was so ..special, and I was imagining this world-class supermodel or doctor." She bit back tears again: "I even told him he was the closest I had to a boyfriend, and he said I didn't count because I was in junior high—"

"Well, I guess maybe he wouldn't want to give it away?" Rei smiled, reaching over to dab a tear free from her face. "It does come off a little creepy though, Sere." And at Serena's sullen nod, Rei added, "Darien's _Darien_, but his behavior's a little weird. Maybe we should mention it at the next Senshi meeting—"

Serena pleaded, "Oh Rei, I don't think we should tell _everyone_. They'll all just think I'm stupid—"

"Naïve," Rei corrected.

"Naïve, and then Luna won't let me go out alone anymore," Serena complained.

Rei grimaced. She wasn't sure that was such a bad idea. Finally, she said, "One condition. You don't let guys MAUL you, Serena."

"I didn't!" Serena argued. "It was just _tickling_!"

"Um, no," Rei said. "You're too old to be tickling boys, or letting them tickle you. After a certain age, it's just groping." She glared at her Princess. "Or FOREPLAY. Before you have SEX!"

Rei smiled contentedly as those words seemed to visibly wound Serena sharply.

"O-_kay_, Serena," Rei sighed. "Guess it's time for The Talk."

"But I know all about—"

Rei chuckled, "You might have some idea of the mechanics, and some of Lita's ideas of the romance, but you're missing just about everything inbetween."

.

Serena left Rei's shrine that night visibly shaken. Painfully embarrassed. Feeling like an idiot. She made her way home and buried her head in her pillows, determined never to come out again until the next ice age.


	4. Chapter 4

**The Silver Crystal's Prerogative**

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**Chapter 4**

Serena turned around and smiled coyly, then curtsied for the court, smiling demurely as sighs of appreciation were heard round the grand courtyard. '_Where the hell am I?_' Serena thought wryly, but kept the smiled plastered to her face as she continued down the sidewalk-runway. '_Ah… I'm having that dream again,_' she thought. '_That same boring, colorless dream from a previous lifetime__,_' she sighed. Then she caught her mother's disapproving stare — uh, okay; that was new! The beautiful woman rarely did more than smile comfortingly in this dream, but now? —Oh wait a minute …there was a big heavy thing on Serena's head, and she glanced up to see what had landed on her skull and potentially ruin what should be a beautiful presentation like all the other times. Serena's headdress fell off and landed on the ground with a heavy thud.

"Damn!" Serena said, bending over to pick the headpiece up. She grabbed it and opted to just hold the thing like a purse, then continued her walk in this strange dream. She glanced up towards her mother again, who was apparently shocked by Serena's filthy mouth. Serena sighed and rolled her eyes; it was a dream. Luna had told her that they were probably memories from the Silver Millennium, and to not worry about them. Especially since neither she nor the Senshi knew what to do about the dreams (although Ami had secretly offered to grab some Ambiens from her mom's stash if the need were to arise.)

A beautiful, gray scale Lita approached Serena and grasped her headpiece, then a pair of arms turned her slightly. Rei Hino. Rei looked annoyed. She'd grabbed the headpiece from Lita and placed it gently back on Serena's head, then said, "We've trained for this moment so often, and you decide to bend over anyway." Straightening the headpiece and smiling at Serena, Rei said, "There. Now you think you can finish this off? We've done everything else; all you have to do is make a few steps _without bending_. Mmm'kay?"

Serena hadn't recalled Rei being quite so snippy in these types of dreams before. She grimaced at the Fire Senshi and asked, "Rei, is this is about Chad?"

Rei cocked an eyebrow at her. "We've already discussed that, Serenity. Now get your ass down there and meet your own prince. Leave Chad alone!"

Lita elbowed Serena and snorted, "She really is jealous. But between you and me? —tickling is perfectly fine! The guys love it!"

Serena looked back at Rei though, then asked, "What prince? I don't see a—" A gong sounded, and Serena jumped to attention, as did Rei and Lita on either side of her. Serena saw her mother preparing to stand. Woah; that had never happened before either. A GONG? In the Silver Millennium? Serena grabbed Rei's hand and whispered, "_Now what?_"

Rei looked at Serena: "You keep going, toots. We can't go down this path with you."

Lita whispered, "Just remember, one foot in front of the other. Just a few more steps; you'll be wonderful! We'll be on the sidelines cheering you on!" Lita gulped, her eyes behind Serena and on Rei: "_Spiritually_ cheering you on, of course."

Serena nodded as the girls disappeared, then continued walking towards an alcove. This dream was stupider than usual, but it was also giving her a sense of foreboding. Maybe even _fear_. Would she get to the end and fall off the moon? Fall in a crater? In all the other dreams, she just got to the alcove, turned around, and waved politely to a quietly adoring crowd. Now she had a headdress on, and Rei and Lita were talking to her…? Oh, if Rei was using her stupid fires to break into her dreams and leave subliminal messages, she was going over there with a firehose first thing in the morning.

Rei was behind her again, smiling, and gently pushing: "Serenity. _Walk!_"

Serena almost nodded, but remembered her headdress. "Okay," she intoned, and started forward again—

Okay, this was new: Darien Chiba was there. Usually the alcove was empty, but today, her tormentor was there. She glanced over at her mother, who didn't seem to notice anything out-of-the-ordinary. Serena kept walking, albeit with even more trepidation.

And then Darien pulled out a giant red-and-white checkered cloth —_oh!_ The picnic blanket he'd been using the last few weeks! But what made her stop walking was the shock of seeing something _**red and white**_ in the usually all-gray-scale dream. Everything else was still in gray-scale, but this one thing, this picnic blanket, was shockingly Technicolor, _**red and white**_!

Darien made a point of flicking the blanket into the air a few times, then placing it down. And right in the middle of the alcove, where Serena was supposed to go stand alone and be presented to the court.

Was he crazy?

Oh no! What if this was her dream Mother's way of letting Serena know she knew what Serena had been up to lately! Maybe she'd be publicly humiliated upon reaching the alcove…

As she continued forward at Ami's gentle prodding, Darien pulled out a giant, and **_bronze-colored_**, picnic basket. Her mouth watered, and she wanted to make a mad dash… but no, —not in this dream. She sneaked another glance at her mother, and saw that she still wasn't acting like anything was out-of-the-ordinary.

So she glanced over at Ami. Sailor Mercury. Who was SURELY fully aware of every detail of proper court etiquette. Mercury had a cell phone out, chatting worriedly with someone, but waved demurely at Serena as Serena approached. _Did they have cell phones a thousand years ago?_ The temptation to look upon the distant moonscape for any sign of a cell tower was almost too much to bear… but then, she had to keep this headpiece on her head.

Finally she passed by Mina, who seemed like she was about to explode with ecstasy. The Venusian Princess was literally jumping up and down, and had tears flowing! Serena KNEW that wasn't proper court etiquette, but looked away so Mina wouldn't unduly influence her as she usually did. Back in real life, one giggle for Mina for any reason would invariably get Serena cackling like a hen and sent to detention. Serena looked straight ahead at the picnic basket, filled with yummy treats. She would not mimic Mina; she would not let Mina's exuberance affect her perfect demeanor.

As she finally got to the alcove and stepped awkwardly on the picnic blanket, then turned to face her beautiful gray-scale and magical court, she saw Rubeus in full, disturbing color. That was Darien's classmate! Koan's brother! Her breath caught as the angry-looking red-haired punk made a mad, furious dash towards her with an angry black sword pointed at her heart.

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Rini watched Serena sleep, but as usual, there was no hint that the ditz thought about anything but boys. Serena had apparently had a fight with Rei; Lita had called before Serena got home and wanted details on some big argument at the arcade. Since Serena wasn't home, Lita apparently thought Rini would be interested in gossip about _Chad_. But no, Rini wasn't interested in any such thing; Rini was starting to freak out about this useless mission. The last time she'd tried to communicate with the future, she'd just been told she MUST find the Silver Crystal to save her Mom, and that she should just trust in the Senshi to keep her safe.

Rini wasn't so sure about the Senshi. She was definitely unsure about the silly teens that Serena Tsukino of this age hung around.

But at least Rini was finally pretty certain that while Serena's hairstyle might have interested the Black Moon minions, neither Mina nor Serena had inadvertently given anything away in the park a few weeks ago when the blondes had been approached by the bad guys. One time Rini had caught '_Koan'_ in the arcade, but Rini had been mentally prepared to see them again, and easily hid herself before Koan could discover her. Since then, Rini had steered clear of the arcade, and opted to hang out in places where Serena or Mina would never set foot in. Like the library, which at least afforded her some ability to research the internet for any hints of Black Moon activity or Silver Crystal mentions.

Besides that, though, nothing had changed in the last few weeks. A few more droid attacks, but she wasn't anywhere near them this time. Unfortunately, she wasn't anywhere near the fabled Senshi, either. The only real change was the amount of time Serena had been spending with her friends after school. But really, Serena NEEDED the help in school, and Mama Ikuko wasn't that upset about it. Maybe Serena was getting fewer detentions, and trying to take care of her appearance a little better. But otherwise, Serena had done nothing strange enough to warrant her concern; and neither had the other girls.

At some point, Rini had to just admit that if these girls had any association with the Silver Crystal, it was a dubious connection at best. Maybe she'd hang around Ami's mom a little more; or Rei's granddad. Then that name came up again as she watched Serena sleep. Serena whispered something about '_Chad'_ while she was dreaming.

Bored, Rini looked around the dark room, letting her thoughts drift to 'Chad'. Was there any way HE had the Silver Crystal? Lita had called about him, and now Serena was saying his name in her sleep, so it was possible...

Oh! —Rini was instantly spooked to see a set of eyeballs boring a hole in her. She jumped off the bed, glaring at the cat. That creepy cat Luna watched Serena like a guard dog, and it unnerved her to no end.

Rini decided she'd had enough of this crap; she didn't care what Sailor Pluto said. After nearly a month of failure, and with that stupid shrine boy 'Chad' being her new best lead, Rini made her decision. She was going home. Tonight.

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Serena was half-asleep still, but running through the park after her cat, begging Luna to wait up.

Luna snapped, "We don't have time, Serena! This girl's given off signals—"

"There she is," Serena pointed, watching her 'cousin' climb through a hole in a fence. As she and Luna approached the fence, they heard Rini talking.

She overheard Rini say that the enemies had hurt her mother, and not even her father could do anything to help. And Serena's blood froze: Rini was being told that the Sailor Senshi had helped her while growing up in Crystal Tokyo, and to trust the Senshi, especially Sailor Moon.

"THERE YOU ARE!"

Serena and Luna looked up to see one of the Black Moon-crested women staring at Rini; she immediately raised her hand with the compact and yelled, "Moon Crystal Power, Makeup!" In that instant of her transformation, she realized the Black Moon woman was Darien's friend, Koan, only without a disguise.

A furious Sailor Moon stopped Koan's imminent attack on Rini, then sneered, "Picking on an innocent child who traveled alone through time to save her mother? In the name of the Moon, I WILL punish you."

As Rini jumped back into Sailor Moon's arms, three other woman shimmered into existence beside Koan. Sailor Moon pushed her 'cousin' back behind her, then saw all four of her Senshi appear. '_Thank you Luna_,' Sailor Moon exhaled to herself, even as Mars jumped in front of her and attacked Koan.

As the Senshi were engaging the women who'd introduced themselves as the Black Moon sisters, Sailor Moon continued backing Rini out of danger, but almost completely knowing who to expect next. He'd been in her dream. Koan's 'brother', Rubeus.

"Let's stop playing around."

Sailor Moon jumped around to face the voice she'd fully expected, and seethed, "_**Rubeus**_," not even considering that only Serena Tsukino, not Sailor Moon, had met this asshole before.

Rubeus sneered at her and nodded, "So you must be Serena Tsukino! Or Mina Aino…" Rubeus looked thoughtful for a second. "Probably the former?"

Sailor Moon felt Rini's hands dig further into the skin of her thigh; she held her moon rod up at Rubeus, ready to dust the ass for giving away her identity, when he threw a ball of black energy at her.

A red rose stopped Rubeus' attack and landed right before Rubeus, and Tuxedo Mask jumped in front of Sailor Moon and the little girl tucked behind Sailor Moon's legs. He glared at Rubeus, who he instantly recognized with shock, and as another black energy ball came flying their way, he loosed several roses at the guy he'd been HELPING for the last month. The resulting explosion forced him back into Sailor Moon, who was shielding her 'cousin'. Tuxedo Mask had about a billion questions in his mind, and a strong inclination to grab Sailor Moon and retreat, but Sailor Moon was back up and facing Rubeus down again.

Tuxedo Mask said, "Sailor Moon, protect the child —

Sailor Moon stood mightily and had a Halation blasting at Rubeus. "On it!" she said belatedly.

And to everyone's frustration, Rubeus called an immediate retreat, and all the fighting ended suddenly.

.

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Sailor Moon glanced up at Tuxedo Mask; and then the shit hit the fan.

Rini, crying from fear, then from absolute _disgust_, looked at 'Sailor Moon' and snapped, "SERENA?"

The Senshi had gathered around, but Sailor Mars was the first of the Senshi to ask, "She _knows_?"

Luna said, "Rubeus knew her identity—"

Serena's jaw was on the ground; that damned Darien had introduced her to the Black Moon enemies weeks ago.

Tuxedo Mask was suddenly before her: "Who _IS _that child? Why do they want her?"

Luna stepped up and said, "This is none of your concern, Tuxedo—"

Rini screamed at the talking cat. Sailor Moon picked her up and tried to console her, talking about how confusing all this must be. Rini wasn't confused though; besides a few oddball characters like Tuxedo Mask and Chad, who might, as far as she knew, be the same person, everyone else fell into place. As Rini let the pieces fall into place, wondering what kind of hellish joke Sailor Pluto had played on her when her Mama was in so much trouble, Rini's eyes fell upon Sailor Moon's brooch.

Instantly Sailor Moon was struggling with Rini, who'd attached like a leech onto Moon's fuku and was trying to pull it down. "What the _hell_?" she asked, trying to guard her decency.

Luna jumped into the child's hair as Sailor Mars grabbed the kid's waist and started pulling back. Sailor Mercury announced, "Sailor Moon! She's trying to get your crystal!"

And with that, Sailor Moon grabbed Rini's wrists and pushed Rini away. Shocked, she recalled her first encounter with Rini; of COURSE she wanted her brooch! She let Mars take the child, then Luna jumped into Moon's arms. Together, they stared at Rini.

Sailor Venus said, "Houston, we've got a problem."

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Tuxedo Mask didn't detransform when the Senshi tried to run off; he knew where they were going, and could conceivably catch them later, but his focus was on catching the cat. Who, for once, was running _from_ him instead of the other way around this time. "LUNA!" he called out.

Luna spun on Tuxedo Mask, hoping to allow the girls some time to get away: "Watch your mouth, Mask."

"Tell me why the enemy is after _Serena's cousin_!" he demanded.

An equally-demanding Luna snapped, "Keep your mouth shut! Not _EVERYONE_ knows her identity, and _you_ still shouldn't know it." Rini had only given a first name, and then thankfully shut up. Rubeus had called out her whole name, but Tuxedo Mask hadn't arrived for that yet. She struggled trying to remember who knew what, and when, and also with what to tell Tuxedo Mask. About Rubeus, about Rini… about the so-called hunt for the Silver Crystal.

"Why are they after _her cousin_?" Mask asked again, growing impatient.

Finally, Luna supplied an answer: "They, uh, think the girl has a rainbow crystal… you know, they didn't get the memo about that battle being over."

Mask ignored her lies and yelled, "Two of those five Black Moon people were in _my_ classes. Luna. And they've MET Serena!"

Luna's eyes widened: "So THAT'S how he might have learned her identity!" Beat. "Tuxedo Mask, he spilled her whole name to Rini right before you arrived. And Serena recognized him, too." Luna got into attack position: "I had no idea how they knew each other, but now it's becoming clearer. They met through YOU."

Tuxedo Mask pointed at the feline, "I knew Rubeus and Koan _WEEKS _before they met Serena, and they could have run into her at any time before that." He looked down, then swept the immediate area with his eyes, half-expecting Rubeus to pop up again. "They targeted _me_, Luna. And Serena did nothing to give herself away. It was a quick, chance meeting with both Serena AND Mina."

"But if it weren't for your obsession with Serena they never would have _MET _her," Luna charged. "He might have been watching her all this time, without our knowledge."

"Maybe," Mask allowed, uncomfortably. They both turned finally and started walking towards the shrine. "_Or_ …or Rubeus wasn't sure of anything until he saw Serena and her cousin here tonight."

Luna sighed. "Rini," she finally said. "That's what we call her, anyway."

Mask asked, "Why are they after this '_Rini_'?"

Luna said, "We overheard Rini talking about that tonight... —and I should be at that meeting about it _now_, Darien."

"I'd like to be at that meeting as well," Tuxedo Mask said.

"I'd like to see you in a fuku, then," Luna replied sharply. Then, "After whatever your civilian form did to Serena today, she certainly isn't ready for MORE shocking revelations tonight, especially not anything involving you." However, she allowed, "—I can let you know the outcome of the meeting."

"I can keep my transformation, Luna," Tuxedo Mask offered. "But I should BE there!"

"_IF _you have a place there," Luna said, "it's in your civilian form, explaining why you were cavorting with the enemy for the last month. —and I guarantee you Serena and the girls aren't ready for any of this yet."

"Then _YOU _tell me who the kid is!" Mask growled.

"I'm not sure I know!" Luna said back in exasperation. "And after I find out more, I WILL tell you—"

"She's not Serena's cousin," Mask stated, disgusted. This was information Luna had had for a long time and kept from him. He finally swooped down and picked Luna up by the scruff of her neck, eliciting a yowl from the cat. He stared her in the eyes and said, "I can't help her, protect her, if you don't tell me what's going on!" Mask growled.

Luna was in a jam. If she told this guy that Rini wanted the Silver Crystal, which might be fairly obvious anyway now, there was no telling what he might do. Finally, she said, "We don't know much more than you do, I'm afraid. Rini's apparently in trouble and was sent to the past, to Serena. But she hasn't been very …forthcoming."

"And Serena's family hasn't asked—?"

"Rini can brainwash people, with that strange ball she carries around. The Tsukinos all believe she's the daughter of a sister Ikuko Tsukino doesn't even have. Believe me, Serena tried her best to prove Rini wasn't related to them, but the brainwashing seems to include family pictures—"

Mask put Luna down and sarcastically said, "Thanks, Luna. That sounds like something I didn't need to know." Idiot cat.

"Well, Rini didn't come with a MANUAL, Mask." Luna smoothed her fur out and continued, "All we know is that she came first, THEN the droids. We didn't know what to do with her; but she did seem to need protection. —and tonight, her ..'_ball_' told her that she needed to ask Sailor Moon for help." At his glare, she nodded, "News to us, too! We've TRIED talking to her, trying to help her… she's a little, scared kid. I suppose we hoped she'd tell us on her own." Beat. "Rini stood up most of the night watching Serena have nightmares, then caught me watching her, and left the house. Next thing we know, we're at the park, and Koan was attacking Rini."

"Did Rini know Serena was Sailor Moon?" he asked.

"Not until Rubeus said so tonight," Luna answered carefully.

"So why was she drawn to Serena in the first place?"

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Darien waited patiently outside the shrine, but nobody ever came out. He walked home and got his car, then returned to the shrine. He parked as close as he could, but rested in the car, not looking forward to the dawning day which promised to find him feeling like a zombie.

He lifted his phone, and was surprised to see a missed call… from just an hour or so ago. He returned it, then looked up at the shrine, where he knew the girls were still ensconced.

Serena answered sleepily, "Darien?"

"Uh, yeah," he said, surprised that her civilian voice still, in the dead of night, could elicit such feelings of awkwardness and stupidity. "I'm –I got up to use the bathroom and saw you'd called."

Serena was quiet for a while, then said, "I'm –_sorry_. I was having a ..a nightmare, and didn't think about the time."

"Are you okay?" he asked, seriously concerned. "Where are you?"

"Ye—_huh_?" she stammered. "I'm, -at a friend's," she finally replied. "I'm really sorry for calling you like that. You can go back to bed—"

"I'm up, now," he said, staring at the shrine. He saw a curtain move, and in a moment of paranoia cupped a hand over his cell phone's suddenly radiant beam of light that would surely give away his location.

Serena sighed; well, everybody else was asleep now. She'd stood and looked out the window to see how early it was, then turned around, crossed the room, and stepped out of the shrine in her robe, hoping to not wake anyone.

Darien died. Or almost died; he froze. Serena was outside with her hair down, phone to her head, in a long, billowing silk robe that did nothing for her modesty. He could see the outline of a set of equally silken shorts and a tank underneath the robe, but mostly skin, including bare feet.

"Are you there?" Serena asked, gingerly moving down the stairs.

Darien started breathing again, but his damned windows were down, and he was half-scared if he spoke, she'd hear him. If he rolled the windows up, she'd hear that, too. She wasn't twenty feet away.

"I'm here," he said gruffly, then blushed red as he realized how husky his voice sounded. He felt like a complete pervert now, watching her in her silk underthings in the middle of the night without her knowing of his presence. He wanted to sink further into his seat, but was scared to move.

"It's going to sound crazy," Serena started, then stood up again and walked slowly in a circle.

From the light of the shrine, Darien could see her nearly-naked limbs through the sheer fabric, and thanked God her arms were folded to cradle the phone to her ear, thus blocking his view of any curves that would surely ruin his resolve to stay in the car.

Serena said, "It could have waited until tomorrow." Then she sighed, pulling her long streams of hair around her fingers and twisting them beautifully.

Luna jumped into his car window, staring daggers at Darien. He lurched forward, causing his horn to blow. He looked up in time to see Serena running into the shrine.

Serena breathlessly said, "Someone was out there! I heard a—" She shut the phone. She'd heard the horn outside, but she'd also heard it through the phone. "Oh, My God," she hissed, then backed through the shrine.

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Luna said, "Great. Let me go put another ANOTHER fire!"

"She called _ME_!" Darien complained to the cat after realizing that Serena had ended the call. He moved to get out.

Luna screeched; the man was walking towards the shrine!

She ran after him: "Mr. Chiba! STOP! You can't go in there—"

He turned to kick the cat, but noticed her eyes fly open wide at something behind him.

He turned to see Serena standing on the stairs again, although she was no longer looking exactly nervous or shy. She looked pissed.

And the cell phone flying at his face proved him right.

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Serena had tears streaking down her face and bent over beside the fallen man to retrieve her phone. She nearly shrieked, "You scared me to DEATH! WHAT are you DOING here?"

Luna said, "He just drove up like he owned the place!" …and then looked at Darien expectantly.

Serena's eyes went wide when she saw Luna; she looked at Darien, trying to think of an explanation for her talking cat. She could say she was a ventriloquist…?

Darien opened his eyes wide as Luna glared at him, then opened them wider as the cat glared harder. Finally understanding, he pointed at Luna and said, with mock horror, "AH! Your cat spoke." He wasn't a good actor. "Ah!"

Serena was freaking: "She didn't speak! You just heard, um, …" Oh shit! What was he doing there? "—what are you DOING here?" she asked, changing the subject until she could explain a talking cat.

Darien hadn't thought that far ahead. He finally held up his own phone, trying to think of a decent reason he could give his Princess for responding to her phone call at Rei's shrine.

Serena squinted her eyes, then asked, "You came looking for me after you realized you missed my call, didn't you?"

Darien squinted in confusion, but found himself nodding dumbly. "Uh, —I was worried."

"How'd you know I was here?" she asked, reaching for his hand and pulling him up. It was only then that she realized she was wearing Rei's intentionally sheer 'Chad PJs', of which Rei had several sets for all the girls to borrow for this 'Rini emergency'. Serena quickly crossed her arms over her chest and stepped off into the dark a bit more.

Luna wanted so bad to explain to Serena how standing in the dark with a light behind you tended to accentuate the positive, but was limited to a disgusted, "_Mrrr-eeee-owwwwWWW!_"

Darien finally had his bearings, as long as he didn't look directly at Serena. Or anywhere near her. He took a deep breath and said, to the shrine, "I thought you might be in trouble… so, I, um…"

Serena smiled shyly at the ground beside the man. "You don't have to try to explain it. Ami's done it before." Plus, she'd seen people do it in the movies. She'd never be able to understand the magic behind cell phones and that triangulation stuff Ami tried to explain, but Darien was a smart college guy; it would probably be a simple thing for him to do. She glanced up at him, then stared at the shrine to see what he was looking at. "Um, well —the reason I called… it wasn't a big deal."

Darien almost turned to her when she stepped beside him. Now they were both staring at the shrine.

Serena said, "I feel really bad that you came out for nothing."

Darien didn't want to speak, sure that the frog permanently embedded in his throat would make him sound like a girl.

Finally, after being ignored for so long, Serena turned and pushed Darien's arm so he pivoted to face her: "Hey! I said I feel bad! But next time—" her own words stuck in her throat. Darien's eyes had darkened, and were now snaking up and down along her body, and for a split second she felt like she could _feel_ his gaze caressing her. She gasped and stepped back, inadvertently landing on Luna and falling backwards as the cat screeched a clearly human-sounding 'ouch'.

Darien was over her instantly, hand wrapped around her back to keep her from hitting her head, while his other arm hit the ground, bracing them from falling.

That flimsy thing she called a 'robe' had spilled off her shoulders, and his arm was under it, touching the back of her tiny little tank. And again, that damned hair was everywhere, behind her on the ground, over her shoulders, down between her breasts, and over his arms. Serena put her hand on his chest, and was trying to get up. He knew he had to move away, not pin her to the ground and kiss her senseless. _Not yet._ So he struggled to stand, pulling her along with him, then pulling her forward into his embrace. His hands sunk into her hair, and he croaked out, "I really, _really_, love your hair, Serena."

She stood against him, then tried to step back, but his arms had her pinned like vice grips to his body. She closed her eyes and swallowed hard, then said, "Darien?"

So softly he could barely hear her. But still, he didn't move. This was exactly how it should be, he thought to himself, holding a barely clad Serena against him in the light of the full moon. He kept smoothing his hands through her hair while his arms held her tight, and he shuddered a sigh when she relaxed a bit against him.

Finally, something occurred to him, something that in truth pissed him off about her being here. Just as she called his name again, Darien said, "Chad lives here."

Serena blinked as best she could with her face smushed against his chest. "Uh, yeah I guess he does." She licked her lips nervously, and asked with silent trepidation, "Is that why you came?"

He pushed her back slightly and looked into her eyes, then smiled. "I came because you called." He saw. He saw a lot more than he reasonably should. He saw a blush rise deeply in her face, then appear over her breasts, which were only slightly covered by the tank.

She caught him looking down, and somehow blushed even more deeply. She could hear her own heartbeat thudding against her ribcage, and by the time he looked back up at her face, she felt somewhat faint.

Darien watched her biting her bottom lip and said, "I'll always come when you call." He bent down to kiss her when all hell broke loose. Outside lights flooded everywhere, Lita was over him, and a surprisingly-mad Mina was approaching with her finger wagging. As he was bodily dragged from Serena, Luna bit his fucking ankle. HARD. Surely just playing the part, he thought angrily.

Serena screamed something, and Darien elbowed the amazon Senshi of Jupiter so he could lunge back towards the shrine: "Serena!"

He had just enough time to see someone pulling her into the shrine before the door closed. Furious, he lifted the leg with Luna still attached and tried kicking her off. Lita or Mina smacked him the head, and when he turned on them, Luna finally stepped off his leg on her own. He glanced down in time to see the cat smile.

"What are you doing here, freak?" Lita spat, then stepped forward and shoved him hard in the chest. She felt a little tiny bit bad for it, but Luna had come in and alerted them all that there was trouble outside. Looking back, maybe it wasn't so much 'trouble' as it was ..well, 'boy trouble'. The kind SHE wouldn't mind finding herself in. Certainly not the kind Luna had suggested.

Darien whipped out his phone: "She CALLED for me," he said angrily.

Mina stood there in the same type of PJs that Serena had had on, but not looking nearly as soft and friendly in them as Serena had. She had her arms crossed and her foot tapping. She was positioned between him and his car, and looking like she was going to let him by when Hell froze over. Darien gulped; Mina looked more dangerous than Rei Hino ever had! He looked back at the suddenly more kind-acting Lita, who was giving him his phone back.

Lita looked at Mina: "She _did _call him."

Mina glared at Lita, then said, unbelieving, "At 4 in the morning? _Bull!_"

Lita shrugged: "At 3. I guess he took his time getting here."

Darien held his hands up, phone still there, and addressed Mina: "I just wanted to make sure she was okay. Swear."

Mina growled, "Yeah, right, Mr. Picnic." It was in her mind to tear his head off. The other girls couldn't understand, but Mina had been with Serena when Darien introduced them to fucking RUBEUS and KOAN. Who'd been wearing a mild disguise to cover up their BLACK MOONS. Mina had to turn around and walk it off; all the Senshi had argued that night about Darien's 'friendships'. Luna had come in and chilled them out somewhat, but only Serena acted like she completely trusted Darien, even though he'd been TRICKING her into going to picnics with him everyday for the last few weeks.

Mina turned back to see Darien talking amicably with Lita, then heading back to his car. After he left, she ran up on Lita and shoved her hard: "YOU LET HIM GO?" Beat. "WHY? Cause he's got a pretty face? How do you know HE'S not hiding a little moon under a disguise?"

Lita stood down, even though her instinct was otherwise. Mina was the Senshi leader, and this wasn't personal. Serena was apparently being attacked on several fronts now, and the Senshi were taking it personally. ESPECIALLY Mina, as she had the most responsibility. But they all felt that responsibility, and Lita rolled her eyes and said, "I didn't let him go because he's a pretty face. If I did that, we'd still have most of Beryl's minions here."

"This ISN'T funny," Mina snapped.

Lita hissed, "You're just sore because they fooled you as well as Serena. —didn't she say you nearly squealed with glee when you FIRST met Rubeus?"

Mina pulled herself together: "I'm not as emotionally attached to the guy as Serena is; she won't even allow the possibility that he's one of them."

Lita put her arm around Mina's shoulder and walked her back to the door. "He's not in the clear yet, but Mina, he was here BEFORE Rini. We all remember him."

Mina squinted. "That was another problem; we all remember him vaguely."

Lita shrugged, "Luna said that wasn't unusual. You're just being paranoid, like Rei."

"Well Rei dated him!" Mina said. "SHE thought about it and couldn't remember why they broke up, and said the more she tried to remember, the less she could remember! There's something WEIRD about that guy and YOU know it!"

"Luna said to forget it," Lita said, in a hushed voice, as they approached the door. "She said it could be anything that made Darien seem fuzzy to us. And just hard school work that made his personality seem to change."

Mina glared: "Fine. But just remember, there's one other person we KNOW has the ability to brainwash people, and that little brat's under house arrest in here right now! Just KEEP THAT in mind!"

Lita followed the Senshi leader in. Luna had a nice answer for that, as well: the Silver Crystal and the girls' Senshi star seeds wouldn't allow Rini's brainwashing to work on them, so there was surely no 'magic' at work regarding their memories unless it was something allowed by the Silver Crystal.

Lita passed the fire room in which Rei was sleeping near Rini, who had tried to steal the Silver Crystal tonight, and was therefore bound like a criminal and to be watched at all times until she talked. She passed into the room where Serena was now laying down, thanks to Ami. Ami was laying nearby, and, like the rest of the house, probably completely unable to sleep due to all the excitement of the day. But she and Serena weren't talking.

Lita pulled up her sleeping bag near Serena and lay down. She whispered, "I didn't hurt him."

"Thank you," Serena whispered back.

"Mina knows you called him," Lita whispered.

Serena lay on her back, staring at the ceiling. She knew some of the girls would continue to think of him as an enemy, especially after she told them about her dream that night, and how both Darien and Rubeus appeared in it in living color. Luna had puked. Literally, threw up, and Rei made poor Chad come in and clean it up. But Luna still, mysteriously, took up for Darien. Oh, she made it clear she didn't LIKE that guy, but she also made it clear that he wasn't an enemy. Luna actually seemed more certain than Serena had been, which, looking back, seemed a little odd to Serena.

Luna had to drag them all off the Darien topic and back to the Rini topic; that little brat had meant to take Serena's Silver Crystal for. Ever! Essentially steal her whole entire identity, in a manner of speaking. WHILE Rubeus and that evil Koan was attacking her Senshi!

Serena turned back over, to see Lita staring at her. "What?" Serena asked, with way too warm a smile on her face.

"_Ser-ee-nah's i-in lo-ove_," Lita sang, causing Serena to blush again.

Serena jerked her pillow out from under her head and beat the Jupiter Senshi in the head.

Ami moaned and complained, "PLEASE be quiet, you two! We've got SCHOOL in the morning! Which is in like, TWO HOURS!"

Lita giggled and whispered, "Should we tell her she's got 'Rini duty' tomorrow and has to skip school?"


	5. Chapter 5

**The Silver Crystal's Prerogative**

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**Chapter 5**

Darien hadn't slept too well, as he'd expected. His thoughts were on the danger surrounding Serena, but when he'd successfully internalized those worries with Tantric meditations, his mind was suddenly FLOODED with fantasies of his little Serena in that flimsy robe, standing outside the shrine this morning. And _dammit _how close he'd come to finally kissing her! Had it not been for Luna and the Senshi interrupting them so rudely, Darien imagined he would've unleashed a passion on that girl that could have ignited a new sun.

In his bed in the early morning hours, after such a life-altering encounter with her, Darien let himself indulge in such a fantasy, where Serena would accept his love without hesitation, and return it fully. Same outdoors setting as an hour ago, but this time, there would be no interruption of their kiss. And at the touch of their lips, he would watch as her memories were suddenly restored, and happily accept her crushing her body to his desperately. —He had to take a break from the passion here to allow that Serena would take the initiative to crush that Silver Crystal that took her memories under her foot. No more Sailor Moon; no more Tuxedo Mask. They would, she would decide, control their own destinies and memories from here on out! Then Serena, fully his Princess again, would insist that they leave the shrine and her meddling friends forever, and run off into the dawn with her Prince. Him. Darien Chiba, with whom she was madly in love! ...of course still would still be in her silky robe that could barely stay on her tiny body...

His fantasy found them suddenly in the very bed he was in now, only with Serena, of course. De-robed, but still in those silken pajamas. He would be trying to calm her down, steady her... he'd have to, because she would be so hungry for his touch that she'd feel like she was going mad. He rolled over in his bed, imagining her agony as she waited for him to take her. She would be screaming in ecstasy just from his barest touch, when he would merely pull down the spaghetti strap of her tank top, preparing to kiss her shoulder…

.

When his alarm went off way too soon, he hit snooze and tossed and turned, again trying to remember every detail of their encounter at the shrine hours earlier. Had she really been as responsive to his touches as he remembered?

In the harsher light of dawn, he frowned as he remembered that she'd actually sorta thrown her phone at him. And she'd covered herself haughtily when her anger dissipated, like she didn't want him to see her body. He'd scooped her up from the ground alright, protecting her from a fall, but wasn't that because she'd stepped away from him and tripped on the cat? And instead of falling into his embrace, maybe he'd sort of pulled her into it. Had she tried to shove him away?

He shook his head and sat up in bed. He was sure she'd wanted him to kiss her, _almost_ as bad as he'd wanted to kiss her, regardless of what else had happened before that point. He rested again, laying back down with a goofy grin on his face, and imagined how she would have reacted the moment after their kiss, if his hands had moved quickly to her waist, to pull her closer. Would she have melted into his arms, allowing him to kiss her deeply? —Or would she have been offended that he was taking liberties with her virtue when all she'd intended was a friendly chaste peck on the lips, maybe the best he could hope for from an innocent, and very naive, fourteen-year-old? Still, he could remember the feel of her silken pajamas; he imagined letting his fingers slip underneath the silks to her skin….

When he finally crawled out of bed, away from his self-inflicted torture, he started some coffee and checked his phone again. There was no way she'd be up this early, even though it was a school day. But still, he decided to compose and send a text to her phone. It took him several attempts to compose the perfect text. Not too demanding; not too casual. Strong, impressive, hopefully conveying his intent without scaring her off. He finally settled for the simple text message:

_DChiba: Park this afternoon?_

and hit Send, hoping it got his point across.

He left early and opted to ditch bio-chem that morning, hoping to catch his Princess at school. He'd considered waiting for her to leave the shrine, but knew her Senshi were being over-protective of her right now, and probably wouldn't appreciate his presence there. But they couldn't keep him away from her school. Unfortunately, all their morning 'run-ins had historically been well before she got to school, and he wasn't sure which school entrance she'd normally use, much less which one she'd use if she arrived with her friends.

He waited in a location where he could see both entrances, and then heard the bell ring. Given that his intended was usually late for school, he figured he shouldn't worry too much. —But then he remembered that he hadn't seen Ami Mizuno arrive yet, either, and a feeling of discomfiture shadowed him. He anxiously waited another fifteen minutes or so, then headed to the shrine. He stood in wait, watching until he saw movement; and about an hour later, he saw it. But the movement was only that idiot Chad, who'd come out to pick some herbs from the garden.

.

_The shrine was too quiet._ Was it possible they'd had a late night and all opted to skip a day of school and sleep in? It almost made sense, until he thought of Ami… there was no way in hell she'd skip school due to missing a few hours of sleep. So Darien made a spontaneous decision and headed for the front door of the shrine.

Chad was surprised to see Serena's 'boyfriend' there. It had been a few days since that awkwardness at the arcade, and Chad had decided that Serena liked the guy for real, and was just too ditzy to see what was right in front of her face.

But why was he _here_? And _this early_? Chad greeted the guy with a casual, if confused, "Hey, dude." —But then Chad immediately wondered if the guy had dumped Serena and decided to go after Rei again. He knew they'd gone out a few times earlier in the year, but then Chiba had disappeared off the face of the planet, and Rei didn't seem to care too much either way. In fact, Chad had forgotten all about Chiba being a contender for Rei's heart until this very instant.

"Where are the girls?" Darien asked without returning the greeting, looking past Chad and trying to enter.

Chad stepped to block Chiba's invasion: "The _girls_? Hey dude, haven't seen them in days. And Rei spent the night at a friend's." Chad bristled, "—why do you care where Rei is, anyway?" He hoped his suspicions about Chiba's intentions weren't showing through, but he did sort of want to stake his territory: "Want me to give Rei a message for you?"

Darien had stepped back on hearing Chad's opinion that the girls hadn't been there the previous night. Um, bullshit! Darien nearly ran Chad over with a burst of anger, entering the shrine and insisting, "They were all here **a few hours ago**."

Chad followed the suddenly manic man into the fire room, and watched dumbly as Chiba started _inspecting_ the room, turning pillows over, looking behind things. "Dude," Chad said, "I was up _a few hours ago_—"

"I was here at **4:00 this morning**, Chad," Darien snapped, confused why there was no sign of a sleepover. No extra blankets out, no mess, no fuss… he went through a few other rooms, finding the same lack of evidence.

Suddenly turning on a surprised-looking Chad, Darien nearly yelled, "Serena **called** me; I _came_ _over_; they were ALL here, and Mina and Lita threw me out!"

Chad, relieved somewhat that the deranged man was here for _Serena _and not Rei, still shook his head: "I was here all night; Rei never came home." He watched as Darien stormed towards the front door, then added, loudly enough for the escaping man to hear him clearly, "Have you thought about talking to somebody? I mean, _professionally_…?"

Darien stormed out and headed for his car. "Yeah," he said under his breath. "A black cat from Mau named Luna."

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All that day, Darien searched the city for any sign of them. He made a point of being at Serena's usual haunts at the usual times, and even told Andrew to call him the moment he saw any sign of any of the girls. _Nothing_. Of course he'd positively blown up Serena's phone with calls, texts, and messages. _Nothing_. He'd even returned to the shrine to exchange numbers with Chad, who looked at him like he was a lunatic, but agreed to call the moment he saw them. By the time evening encroached, Darien was staking out the Tsukino home for any sign of his Princess or her evil cat while eating some take-out.

_Nothing_.

Finally, and quite impulsively, he walked to Serena's front door and banged on it. Chad might have been right that he was a little out of his mind, but it had been a full day with no Sailor Senshi, no Luna, no Serena, and he hadn't had that familiar pull of her transforming into Sailor Moon. Something was wrong.

When Serena's mother answered the door, his breath caught; he didn't have a plan. He just blurted out, "Is –is Serena here."

Ikuko was somewhat taken aback by the handsome stranger at her door, and started to answer, but then the guy moved her aside and entered their home, calling her daughter's name while doing so. Ikuko's eyes grew wide as the man burst up the stairs like he owned the place, then started calling for Serena's _cat _as well as Serena. Ikuko wondered just who the hell Serena was hanging around with these days! Starting up the stairs, she said rather sternly, "Excuse me, Sir—?"

He'd disappeared into one of the rooms!

Ikuko walked into Serena's room and saw the man turning things over, looking for something! Fury building in her, she finally said, "What **the hell** are you doing?"

Darien turned on her like a wild man: "She wasn't in school today, Ms. Tsukino! She's not answering her phone! She's NOWHERE!" Then he started tearing her bed down, half-hoping that Luna was hiding under the covers. Then he saw her closet...

Ikuko, nervous for several reasons now, most particularly being her husband who would kill this young man if she didn't get things under control, quickly said, "She's out-of-town, Sir! She and her friends won't be back for a few days—"

Darien, finding no sign of Luna in the room, turned to Ikuko and angrily spat, "**Did she take her cat, too?**" _How could this woman be Serena's caretaker?_ he wondered._  
_

Ikuko shook her head. "Um, of course not. Luna's probably around here…—do we KNOW you?"

Darien said, "I'm her ..I'm Serena's good friend." He approached Ikuko and put his hands on her shoulders with all seriousness: "Can you get in touch with her? Is there a phone number, or an address—?"

Ikuko tried stepping away from him: "Um, well let me think…" She turned and left the room, thinking to get to a phone to call for help. There was no way in hell she'd tell this crazed man where her daughter really was, but she had to say something to diffuse him; something that he'd believe if he really knew her: "Her friend Lita has a cabin…" She turned around before descending the stairs, hoping the guy was out of Serena's room by now and following her. He was. "It's fairly remote," she continued. "That's probably why you haven't been able to reach her." Beat. "Who did you say you were again?"

Darien realized he was scaring the woman, but had to get some real information from her: "When was the last time you talked to her?"

"Last night!" Ikuko said, now downstairs with the deranged man on her heels. Kenji was there, but he was in the shower… She worried about Shingo. She fought to remember where Shingo was. _At a neighbor's, playing_, but he was supposed to return home for dinner soon.

"And her _cousin_?" Darien demanded, turning the woman to face him. His heart cringed at the fear in her eyes, and he held his hands out, as if to show he meant her no harm. "Little pink-haired kid. 'Rini'? You just let a young child go out to a remote cabin with Serena, too?"

Ikuko shook her head back and forth, not knowing what the man was raving about. "_Who_?"

Darien looked around at all the pictures in their living room, and, remembering what Luna had said last night about Rini forcing herself into the family home, _even into the family pictures,_ Darien started scanning the pictures for the little girl. He picked up a picture with a little girl: "Her!"

Ikuko nearly choked out, "That's Serena, about 10 years ago."

Darien did a double-take on the picture: it was in black-and-white, so …_maybe_. He'd never seen Rini up close, except for the few moments in the battle last night. You could certainly see a familial resemblance between Rini and Serena, once you got past the ridiculous pink hair on the 'cousin'.

Darien set the pictures down. "You don't _remember_ a little girl living here with you for the last few months?" Was Ikuko lying to protect her family? …or had the brainwashing been lifted? What exactly had happened at the shrine after he left? Hell, had _CHAD_ been brainwashed? —He turned around and saw that Ikuko was on the phone, and his eyes went wide: "No, please don't! I swear I'm just trying to help FIND Serena! The last thing in the _world_ I'd want to do is hurt her!"

Ikuko's eyes were wet with tears. "Just…" she cupped the phone in her hand, not yet speaking to the police, but not hanging up, either. "Who the hell _**are**_ you? We don't _KNOW_ you; Serena's never _MENTIONED_ you! You come bursting in here calling for her, and ..and _her CAT_! You insist another child lives here besides Serena and her brother!"

Darien nodded nervously, then an idea hit him: "Has she mentioned having picnics in the park with anyone?"

"You're _**HIM**_?" Ikuko said, determining that if THIS were the 'friend' Serena had been having picnics with, Serena was going to be grounded for LIFE. No excuses. Not only was this guy a nut, and dangerous-seeming, but he was in his twenties! She'd RAISED Serena better than this!

Darien nodded. Then pulled out his phone. He accessed his received calls, then gave Ikuko his phone.

Ikuko took the phone wearily, then startled with recognition. "She called you at three in the morning?"

"Yes," Darien said, pacing the room. He opted to keep it simple and to the point: "I thought she might be in trouble, Ms. Tsukino. I've been looking for her ever since." He opted to leave out seeing Serena at Rei's shrine at 4am; he had no idea what the woman believed about Serena's whereabouts, and didn't want to freak her out more. At this stage, he just wanted her trust, at least enough so she wouldn't call the police on him.

"Why would she call you at _three in the morning_?" Ikuko repeated dumbly, looking at the other calls to and from his phone. She was shocked by the number of times _he'd_ tried Serena's phone number. She hit Serena's contact information, as if to get some kind of an answer, and saw the picture of Serena that this man had in his phone. Dumbfounded, she went to his saved pictures, just having to know —and saw several pictures of Serena at the picnics. "You really ARE the guy she had picnics with," she said, astounded.

Darien wanted to grab his phone back and leave; it was clear now that Luna or someone had covered for Serena to her parents. Something was happening, somewhere. But if that were so, why hadn't he felt her turn into Sailor Moon? Had their bond been broken? Had the Silver Crystal worked a little more _magic_, somehow offended that he'd approached her in her skivvies in the middle of the night?

He turned back to Ikuko, who was holding both her home phone and his phone, and looking at him oddly. He looked around quickly and found some paper and a pen. He scribbled on the paper, and handed it to Ikuko: "Here's my number; I've got your house number on my phone already."

She took the proffered number and handed him his phone back: "I saw."

Ikuko had seen that this man had every possible field in his contact list for Serena filled out, including a special ringtone, school number, home number, cell, and even alternate cells that Ikuko didn't know Serena had. Maybe they were her friends' cells, but Ikuko didn't have her friends' cell numbers committed to memory.

He blushed, both from embarrassment and guilt, then pocketed his phone. "Maybe I'm overreacting, but …if you hear from her—"

Ikuko heard the bathroom door open and quickly shoved the man out of the house: "_I'll call you._ Got it." She closed the front door behind her, standing outside with the man. She saw the car he was driving, and couldn't help but be impressed. But why was an older, successful man like this interested in her 14-year-old daughter? And why did he care so much, like he had as much right to know her whereabouts as her own parents.

'_Oh my God, he's a pimp!_' Ikuko thought, almost bursting into tears. '_Serena's working the streets!_' —She'd always heard that pimps were possessive like this! She wondered if there were rehab for girls who got caught up in trouble like this... What if Serena had run away to get away from this pimp?

Darien, now feeling guilty for upsetting Serena's freaking _**mother**_, quickly said "I hope I didn't worry you." But he knew he had.

"**Of course I'm worried now****!**" She could have slapped the man. "I'm going to try to reach her, and I'll call the other mothers, as well," Ikuko said, almost threateningly, for some reason wanting this lunatic to know that she DID care about Serena. She gasped —in retrospect, maybe it wasn't so smart to let her skip a day of school to go up into the mountains with Rei on a "study retreat". Why _had_ she allowed that?

.

Darien left, knowing he'd probably stirred up a hornet's nest that would make Luna's job worse if they came home soon and everything was okay. But if everything _weren't _okay …he didn't even want to think about that. He could picture Ikuko Tsukino and the other mothers hunting him down with torches and pitchforks.

But at this stage, he really didn't care if he were lynched. If something _had_ gone wrong, right under his nose, what would it matter. At least he could let his life alleviate the anger of all the angry parents whose daughters would never come home again.

As far as he was concerned, it was all that blasted Silver Crystal's fault. And Luna's fault, for keeping him out of the loop. And his own fault, for ever agreeing to their manipulations. This situation was unforgivable. If he ever got his hands on Serena again, he'd never let her go. Ikuko had better just get used to him…

Darien had driven for only minutes — he wasn't even close to his apartment when he finally _felt _Serena's transformation.

.

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He was **relieved** to feel it, even if he'd nearly wrecked his car from the shock and pain. And even if it meant she were in trouble. At least he'd be able to see her finally, make sure she was okay! —But as he jumped out of his car and transformed, then hauled ass to her location, their bond started sending him strange signals. He'd sensed some impossible locations, tried the closest buildings to those locations, then finally stood on a rooftop, staring straight up into the air, feeling useless.

"_She's in grave trouble, Tuxedo Mask,_" Luna said.

Mask startled, even though he knew he should be used to the cat sneaking up on him by now. He bent down and swept her up, holding her under her arms — her least favorite position — but he wasn't doing it out of malice. He was doing it out of desperation: "Where is she, Luna? Where have you been all DAY?"

Luna struggled mightily against his awkward grasp, kicking her claws up to his chest to give him the hint that she wasn't comfortable! She hissed, "There's a UFO up there, Chiba. THAT'S where she is."

"What?" Mask exclaimed. "_RUBEUS_?" he guessed. The creep had run from the battle last night, but Tuxedo Mask was fully expecting another attack. Just …not so soon. It had to have something to do with—

"Yes, Rubeus. Probably all of the Black Moon Clan, I suppose. Rini escaped this morning shortly after you left. Only she escaped _with Serena's brooch_. We've been looking for her all day. We finally detected an energy surge from her, and guessed she'd used her magic key, probably to escape with Serena's brooch, back to the future—"

"Rubeus detected the energy surge as well," Tuxedo Mask growled.

"Right," Luna said, still trying to adjust to this uncomfortable position. "It alerted Rubeus to her location. Serena got to Rini first and, since she was the one who couldn't transform, we told her to run and hide the child. Rubeus doesn't seem to be able to locate Rini unless she uses that key ...or gets a well-needed spanking." Luna was ready to BEG to be put down, but didn't want the angry Tuxedo Mask to squeeze her more tightly. "But while Serena was successful in getting to Rini first and hiding the child, Rubeus captured the other Senshi and transported them to his spaceship. —I'm surprised you hadn't heard the reported UFO sightings." The cat looked forlornly at the sky.

Darien demanded, "**Why didn't you contact me?**"

Luna squealed with his rough handling, but angrily spat, "Contact _WHO_, Tuxedo Mask? Serena doesn't know your identity, and you don't come unless she transforms! It took us a while to get the brooch from Rini, and even then the Senshi were being held captive. And Rubeus …he demanded an _exchange_."

"The child for the Senshi," Tuxedo Mask glowered, still incensed Luna hadn't just told Serena the truth and called _him_.

"No," Luna said. "_Sailor Moon _for the Senshi."

Mask's face contorted in confusion. "But I thought...?"

Luna struggled some more to get out of his uncomfortable grasp. "Rubeus gave her a time limit, and the child had hidden the brooch. Rubeus didn't want _Serena_, and without her brooch, her hands were tied."

"_**You would have let her go?**_" Mask growled.

"Of COURSE not!" Luna insisted. "But we couldn't do _anything _without the brooch, and then the damnable child decided to grow a conscience and offer herself up. Serena ran out to get the child, who at least had the brooch on her by this time, thinking that Rubeus would let the Senshi go if she showed up with the Silver Crystal. Serena got to Rini first, got her brooch back, then transformed. Before I knew what she was up to, she had approached the ship. And Rubeus—"

"Transported **Serena** up there? She's up there ALONE _**with them**_?" Mask demanded, shaking the cat.

"She's up there with the Senshi. And Rini, who'd followed Sailor Moon at the last minute, for whatever reason." Luna corrected, clearly in pain by now. "But at least she's _Sailor Moon _and has some ability to fight them. We'd gone most of the day thinking that kid would disappear forever with the Silver Crystal!"

"But I can't _**help**_ her from here!" Mask exclaimed, finally dropping the cat without ceremony, then stalking the rooftop angrily. "Do you SEE WHY I should be more involved, Luna? I can't DO MY DAMNED JOB and protect her if she doesn't know who I am!" He turned viciously on the cat: "She wouldn't answer my calls all day; I couldn't find her!"

After an uncomfortable moment, Luna finally admitted, with shame, "Rei and Mina were convinced that you were one of Rubeus' clan. —I tried to tell them otherwise, but..."

"I figured as much," Tuxedo Mask sighed, dejected. He turned his back on the cat. "But _Serena_…? She seemed to trust me! Why didn't she return my calls?"

Luna said, "The Senshi decided she wasn't supposed to talk to you, until they determine your loyalties. I'm sorry, Tuxedo Mask."

"But Serena called ME!" he said.

Luna nearly shrieked, "And she took a lot of heat for that! Serena's ..very _confused_, and under a lot of pressure from the Senshi, but she trusts you. Unfortunately, I'm afraid she and I are the only ones who do. —Maybe you impressed Lita some last night, but Serena's call to you made the others think you had _HER _brainwashed." Luna stirred, clearly uncomfortable. "It sounds terrible, I'm sure, but the Senshi really were just trying to protect her."

Mask glared at the cat: "YOU could have contacted me!"

"SHE wanted to call you. But the Senshi **took her phone.** And _YOU _weren't at your apartment all day," Luna hissed. "Believe me_, we tried_. Before we found Rini, Serena was more worried that Rubeus and Koan had captured you than she was about recovering her Silver Crystal—"

"What?" Tuxedo Mask asked, surprised. Touched. He bent down and faced Luna.

Luna nodded. "She and I looked for you together, while looking for Rini. Serena even insisted on going to your campus—."

Tuxedo Mask bit his tongue in self-flagellation and let out a groan of agony, feeling a chill crash down his spine. He couldn't believe he'd doubted her. Had he gone on about his usual business, they might have found him, and she might not be up there with Rubeus now.

Luna took pity on the man, but asked, "Where _were _you today?"

Darien swallowed hard. "I was trying to find her," he admitted, though he supposed such an admission was too little too late now. He sighed and said, "I went to her house tonight, Luna."

"_**WHAT?**_" Luna screeched, hair flying out in all directions, startling Tuxedo Mask. "You could have been SEEN!"

Mask chuckled. "You don't understand, Luna. I knocked on the door, and went IN the house. I searched her room… I'm afraid her mother was freaking out pretty bad—"

Luna passed out cold.

Then Artemis ran upon the two of them, took one look at Luna, then demanded, "What did you _DO_ to her?"

.

.

After Luna came to, staring daggers at Tuxedo Mask, the two cats and the tuxedo-clad hero followed some slight location adjustments that Tuxedo Mask _felt_, trying several rooftops if only to stay as near to the spaceship as possible. It gave them something to do in the hours that passed. The cats also followed Tuxedo Mask when he fell to his knees as he sensed Sailor Moon's sudden agonies and tortures. None of them had any real idea what was going on at all, except that at least one of the captives, Sailor Moon, was not yet dead.

"He's toying with her," Mask growled out, almost inaudibly. "Torturing her."

"It would seem so," Artemis said, watching the mysterious man's agony. "They're in the confines of an enemy ship; Rubeus probably has her Senshi in bonds…" or worse.

Luna shook her head: "They've got everything they came for—"

"**Shut up**," Mask said angrily, fighting tears. No, fighting a sob. He cursed the useless rose-throwing transformation that wouldn't allow him the power to get to that ship. He cursed the Silver Crystal—

"You don't understand what I'm saying," Luna said. "You're usually more level-headed than this, Tuxedo Mask. Rubeus has everything he came for: the child, apparently Sailor Moon. The Silver Crystal that's part of Sailor Moon. And yet you still sense them there..."

"Not travelling to the future," Artemis added, understanding, and finally feeling a bit of hope.

Tuxedo Mask wasn't sure what to think. He almost blew Luna's cover by talking about his personal knowledge of Rubeus, before realizing that Luna had specifically kept Artemis in the dark about his alter ego. 'Tuxedo Mask' didn't know Rubeus; only Darien Chiba did. However, …"She _IS_ fighting," Mask allowed.

"They'd be long gone if Sailor Moon and the Senshi were under his control," Artemis agreed.

And then Tuxedo Mask got a strange, overwhelming sense of power, and his heart lurched with hope. Unfortunately, it was immediately followed by a suffocating sense of loss… Mask fell to his knees, struggling for breath. The cats' hair fluffed out madly, sensing his despair. Artemis lamented, "They are gone."

Tuxedo Mask nearly collapsed to the rooftop, before feeling an explosion of Sailor Moon's presence, as if she were nearby, standing on the next street. He was standing, scooping up armfuls of cat, running… "She's back!"

He ran fast and jumped off the roof without blinking. He blundered when, overhead, a huge orange burst of fire flashed in the night sky. The following sonic boom put cats' claws in through both of his arms and sent him hurtling ungracefully to the ground.


	6. Chapter 6

**The Silver Crystal's Prerogative**

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**Chapter 6**

The Sailor Planet Teleport had worked, even with Rini inbetween the circle of Senshi. Sailor Venus was shaking, then started sobbing. "I can't believe we did it," she cried, then fell to the ground in pain, exhaustion, and shock. Her wrists were still aching from being shackled for what felt like days, but which her brain knew was only hours. The exhaustion was mainly from holding back tears as she and, more importantly, her other Senshi, were tortured by the Ayakashi sisters while waiting for Rubeus' time limit to expire. She had prayed Sailor Moon wouldn't come, but absolutely knew she would. She'd actually hoped Rini had escaped with the brooch and Serena would be unable to transform. Surely, even though Rubeus didn't separate Serena from Sailor Moon, he'd want her henshin form, not her civilian form, because it was the Silver Crystal he was after. _It just had to be._ So if Rini kept the Crystal, then the Black Moon Clan would have stay in the 20th Century longer than they anticipated, giving Serena time to come up with a plan.

But then _both_ Sailor Moon and Rini had been teleported onto the ship. All hope had been lost.

Even when Rubeus had cut the Senshi down, making a show of letting the Sisters face each weakened Senshi, Venus had retained no hope. Rubeus was apparently under orders to take Sailor Moon alive, and Rini might be the icing on the cake, but the Senshi themselves were disposable. Rubeus cutting them down to fight was no more than a way to break Moon's spirit.

But Sailor Moon had burst into action, surprising Rubeus, and then awakening his own latent desire to battle her. It quickly became clear that Rubeus didn't agree with his commanders, that Sailor Moon should go to the future unharmed; Rubeus wanted her dead! He wouldn't kill her, but he would enjoy torturing Sailor Moon, because for some inexplicable reason, he _hated_ her. He'd tried crushing the Princess with extreme gravity which he, of course, was protected from, but Sailor Moon surprised him by standing and fighting in the impossibly low gravity.

And then Sailor Mars surprised them all by polishing off the sister she was fighting, and immediately joining Sailor Moon in a combined attack against Rubeus.

Venus, for herself, had been attacked viciously by Petz, and knew she was done for. She barely saw Moon go down again, but felt Rubeus' maniacal laughter, and knew the final hit by Petz was surely a death blow.

…but then Sailor Venus had been roused by the other Senshi, how much later, she wasn't sure. She'd learned that between Moon and Rini, the crystal powering the ship and the Black Moon Clan had somehow been disabled. Rubeus had lost! …but he had set off a self-destruct sequence, and there were explosions and fires everywhere. Sailor Jupiter had helped her to her feet, and Sailor Mercury mentioned using a Sailor Teleport. And finally, Sailor Venus allowed herself to feel _hope_.

Unfortunately, while the Senshi were preparing to teleport, and the ship had started coming apart, Sailor Moon was off running through the ship. Sailor Venus had broken away from the circle to go get her: "Sailor Moon! We've got to go NOW!"

Moon shrugged her away violently —and it's not like Sailor Venus had much strength left anyway. Venus fell hard, and Mars was beside her instantly. Sailor Mars said, "Moon! NOW! The ship's going DOWN!"

Sailor Moon stormed into both Venus' and Mars' faces: "Fine. But you BOTH take note who's NOT here!"

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_Well, duh!_ Sailor Mars had thought. The four captured Senshi had pretty much figured out that Chiba wasn't of the Black Moon Clan while they were being tortured by the Sisters. Koan, the one Mina had met, had positively _**bragged**_ about how easy it had been for them to find Serena-slash-Sailor Moon. Apparently, her freaking _hairstyle_ is what had given her away! —well, that and her overall resemblance between their future Neo-Queen and the current Serena Tsukino. And from that chance meeting, had figured out that Serena might have been the person Rini had escaped the future to find.

Sailor Mars, as she was wont to do, had ascertained much more information from Rubeus by taunting him. Mars could tell that Rubeus' original orders had been merely to capture 'the Rabbit', but in doing so, had found Serena, and Rubeus' fearless leader had then requested that Rubeus capture not only the Rabbit, but also the ancestor of the Neo-Queen.

Unfortunately, Sailor Mars had picked up on a few more things that she wasn't so comfortable with. Things Rini could have told them, but didn't. Such as, Serena's future descendant was this child's mother, and had the Silver Crystal in the future.. Just like Serena. And this child, Rini, had returned to seek the Silver Crystal to save her mother. But the Senshi likewise had descendants in the future who were protecting the remains of Crystal Tokyo. Mars supposed of all those facts, that last one challenged her the most, because …well, she hadn't intended on _HAVING_ any descendants. Of course, at 15, Sailor Mars allowed that maybe she'd have a few boyfriends, but she'd always assumed — would have SWORN — that she'd one day become a celibate priestess without ties, without family, so she could devote her life to serving the temple, and ..and to serving Serena.

Which dammit, meant NO FAMILY, besides her fellow Senshi.

But apparently, Mars was wrong.

And yet what really unnerved her even more than that was how _each and every Senshi_ on the ship was easily recognized as their future descendants by these Black Moon idiots. Not in their civilian forms — apparently, the future Senshi didn't hang around in their civilian forms much. But they were certainly recognizable in their henshin.

She'd caught Sailor Mercury's uneasy stare at that information, as well; the both of them knew that maybe, possibly, _one_ of them might have a descendant a thousand years hence that resembled them. But… but to have _all five Senshi_, if you included Sailor Moon, which obviously Rubeus had… to have ALL of them have identical lookalikes a thousand years hence was ..well, it was just a statistical improbability!

In fact, in Sailor Mars' own memories from the Silver Millennium, she hardly recognized herself. Physically, there was a resemblance, sure; but not so much personality-wise. Negating the power levels which she knew she hadn't reached yet in this lifetime, and negating her age, Rei Hino's Mars was a different beast than her former self. Same soul, yes. But the Martian Princess of the Silver Millennium was calm, almost anti-social; very reserved. Mars could remember being her, to a degree, and knew it _was_ her, but since her death and rebirth, she'd become a different beast. Physically, spiritually, emotionally.

So for Rubeus to recognize her instantly as 'Sailor Mars', and speak of her dedication to the Neo-Queen Serenity, and actually identify her with Sailor Mars of the 30th Century, made her very, very uncomfortable. The ramifications of her thoughts were ..too much to even suspect out loud. And every fiber of Mars' being had wanted nothing more than to be back at the shrine in front of her Great Fires, trying to grasp for understanding. And when she'd finally seen hope for doing just that, Sailor Moon opted to make a scene on a burning ship that yes, the Senshi had been WRONG about Darien Chiba's involvement with the Black Moon Clan.

Sailor Mars hadn't ever seen Sailor Moon look quite as angry as she had looked in those last few moments in the burning ship. It had been a decidedly long, frustrating, emotional day for them all; they needed food, and rest, like never before. So finally, just to get them the hell off the ship, Mars acquiesced that sure, Darien wasn't Black Moon, even the Sisters had said as much, and then '_Moon, if you ever want to see that guy again, you'd better get off your high horse and help us __Teleport__!_'

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Sailor Mercury was just glad to be back on the damned ground again. She'd pitched forward onto her knees immediately, then looked up at Sailor Moon, and quietly cried, "Oh Sailor Moon, _**pl**__**ease**_ don't let that brooch out of your sight again!"

Rini had jumped up and ran to Sailor Moon, apologizing profusely for taking the brooch.

As they all stood up, Luna came running upon them, and then Tuxedo Mask. Mask didn't waste a second grabbing Sailor Moon and turning her around, looking and feeling her over closely for injuries. Sailor Moon smiled warily at him; he could see the tortures she'd endured, and it tore his heart apart. He weakly stuttered, almost pleading for understanding, "I couldn't get to you…"

"I know," Sailor Moon smiled weakly. Her heart soared as she stared into the first friendly eyes she'd seen all day. Then she shook off the uneasy memory that she'd seen similar friendly eyes that very morning, when Darien had come by the shrine. Her mouth dropped as she thought of Darien — she wanted to contact him. She quickly turned around to face Sailor Venus and demanded, "My phone, Venus." Before she could step away, Mask had encircled her waist gently and pulled her back to him. Probably a good idea, given her weakened state after the battle and transport. She closed her eyes for a moment and imagined Darien's arms around her, and was struck with a bit of guilt.

Sailor Mercury said, "We've got to get home, guys, and deal with—"

"You can't go home!" Luna announced.

Sailor Moon had relaxed back into Tuxedo Mask's embrace, facing the group of Senshi and waiting for her phone, but at Luna's insistence that they couldn't go home, she stiffened and snapped, "Why not?"

Luna stared directly at her charge: "A certain DARIEN CHIBA stormed your home tonight, telling your mother you were missing and in danger. Your mother has called the shrine, Dr. Mizuno, and Mina's parents."

"You're going to need a story," Artemis said, jumping up into Sailor Venus' arms.

Tuxedo Mask felt his Princess stiffen in his arms. He glanced at Luna, who was staring daggers at him. He kept his mouth shut, much to his own chagrin, since he wanted nothing more than to detransform and show the world that HE was Darien Chiba. But right now, he had no clue what to do. ALL he'd asked was for his Princess' safety; and while she was quite battered, she WAS safe.

Luna continued, "Oh, it gets better: your mother saw his phone; she knows you called him last night, and she knows that you've been, um, _seeing quite a bit of_ _him_."

Sailor Moon suddenly felt guilty being in Tuxedo Mask's arms. Safe, incredibly safe, …but guilty. And right now, after the scene she'd made on the spaceship, she figured she needed a little bit of safety. A glance upwards proved that the Senshi were angry at HER because of Darien.

"Oh no," Moon said. "Had you let me _have my phone_, this wouldn't BE a problem! —you're _NOT_ blaming Darien for something **YOU** caused!"

Luna continued: "Sailor Moon, he asked about Rini, and your mother declared there WAS no Rini."

Sailor Moon glared at Sailor Venus: "My PHONE, Venus. *_Now_*."

Tuxedo Mask inhaled sharply, remembering just how many messages he had left on her phone. The gasp wasn't lost on Sailor Moon, but she set it aside for now, wondering if he was just shocked that she had a male interest _besides_ him.

Sailor Venus reached into her subspace pocket nervously and tossed the confiscated phone over to the Princess, with a quick "Sorry, Sailor Moon."

"You bet you are," Sailor Moon spat, then plucked her phone out of the air.

Sailor Moon glared down at her Senshi: "You ALL stood against me; you took my basic civil rights; you refused me a friend, even when Luna insisted he was okay." She flipped her phone open, saying "You should be ashamed of—" … and… _**damn**_, she gasped at the number of missed calls. She hadn't been able to find Darien anywhere earlier, and just now had spent time searching Rubeus' ship to ensure Darien wasn't on there. She felt sure that at least one of these HUNDRED calls were from him…!

Sailor Mars said, "We were doing our _JOBS_, Ser.._Sailor Moon_!" Mars couldn't believe Venus had given up the phone so easily. Okay, so Darien wasn't Black Moon, but Darien Chiba was still a 'fuzzy memory' for all of them, and therefore still questionable. She, being among the group who had Serena's phone, knew Darien had been blowing Serena's phone up all day —at least until they were taken into Rubeus' spaceship and lost the signal. And now they knew he hadn't stopped at calling and texting her phone; he'd scared the shit out of Ikuko, mentioned Rini… he was a disaster for the Senshi, bad guy or not! Mars rolled her eyes as Moon's jaw fell open while looking at her confiscated phone.

Sailor Moon slapped her phone shut and held it close to her body, even as Tuxedo Mask inexplicably pulled her closer to him again. She had voice mails and texts, too, and while she hadn't read the texts yet, she'd seen that _all_ the latest texts were from _Chiba, Darien_. —she was wracked with guilt as she swooned in Tuxedo Mask's arms while thinking about another man. Dammit, was it possible to feel such an affinity for two completely different men?

Rini really wanted to go back home to Mama-Ikuko, but she'd released their brainwashing earlier in the day, before trying to use the Time Key, because she hadn't wanted them to miss her. Sniffling, she said, "I wanna go home, Serena! _Please!_"

Luna said, "I'm sorry, Rini, but none of us can really go home until you undo the damage done today—"

Venus jumped up: "That's RIGHT! This can be easily fixed if Rini just brainwashes my parents and Ami's mom when she hits the Tsukinos—!"

Sailor Mars gleamed with joy and added, "And Darien Chiba! Wipe his memories, too, since he knew we were gone—"

Tuxedo Mask jumped angrily at Rini: "Don't you DARE!" He turned around to Luna and said, "You have to stop all this brainwashing! They have no right!"

Sailor Moon grabbed Mask's arm; she didn't really want Rini back in her home, and she definitely didn't want Darien brainwashed, but she said, "Tuxedo Mask, she's got to at least make my parents remember her again—"

Tuxedo Mask pointed at her phone: "That guy …he spent all day worried about you! And you'd just violate his brain like that? And your MOM?"

"Well of COURSE not!" Sailor Moon said. "I don't think we should brainwash Darien! I don't want _ANYONE_ brainwashed, as they all know—"

Luna turned on the arguing pair, as did Sailor Mars. Luna said, "Sailor Moon, the man CONFRONTED YOUR MOTHER today; he made a SPECTACLE! He mentioned Rini, and your parents are worried, and confused—"

Sailor Moon said, "So? I'm glad SOMEBODY did! We were trapped in a SPACESHIP, LUNA!" Then she knelt down to meet her cat eye-to-eye: "What, would you want to brainwash Andrew if he wondered why were weren't at the arcade?" She looked up at Rini: "JUST my PARENTS! So they'll remember YOU!" she insisted. "Leave Darien and everyone else out of it!"

Sailor Mars interrupted, addressing Sailor Moon: "Think of it as killing _several_ birds with one stone: we get Rini back into your house, the parents don't ask questions, and we get rid of Chiba."

Sailor Moon's jaw opened: "I don't WANT to get rid of him, Rei!" Tears welled up in her eyes, even as Rini started manipulating Luna-P. Sailor Moon cried, "Don't, Rini! He didn't DO anything wrong!"

"_**It's WRONG!"**_ Tuxedo Mask exclaimed angrily. He and Sailor Moon seemed to be the only ones against brainwashing… but it seemed to be the little pink-haired girl who would be making the decision. Looking at Mars and Luna, then Venus and ..dammit, even Mercury and Jupiter, Tuxedo Mask reasoned, "You are the Senshi! You can't WIPE people's MEMORIES at will! You're supposed to PROTECT—"

Tuxedo Mask realized they were all focusing on Rini's ball, and that that was the source of the brainwashings. The horror of losing ALL his memories, _AGAIN_, was too much. He instantly threw a rose at the ball, intending to burst it, then dove at the kid yelling, "_STOP!_"

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Luna saw the rest, as a calm came across everyone else after the sudden maelstrom of angry Senshi descended upon Tuxedo Mask: fairy dust burst out of Luna-P, who bounced away from Mask's rose without harm. As Tuxedo Mask dove at the girl, Sailor Jupiter shoved Rini out of harm's way, leaving Mask to crash down on the ground. Sailor Moon must have been headed that way, as well, because she was soon over Mask.

And before the fairy dust settled on him or any of the Senshi, a silver glow BURST from Sailor Moon like a supernova, and covered Tuxedo Mask, then the Senshi, and the cats as well. Sailor Moon herself was aglow with silver light, but her eyes were closed. All the Senshi's wounds were healed by the silver light, and they were all protected from Rini's brainwashing.

And like a rubber band snapping back, all the girls and Tuxedo Mask snapped back to reality a split-second later.

Sailor Moon was on her knees, dazed, and staring at her phone. Tuxedo Mask saw tears fill her eyes as she worried about his alter ego, but he was mostly _**relieved**_ that the kid's magic hadn't affected him at all! He was mesmerized by Sailor Moon's .._fear? _..that the messages would be gone. Apparently they weren't, since she smiled and started looking through them with a feverish need.

Sailor Moon stopped her assault on her phone suddenly, and asked hollowly: "Will Darien remember any of this? —his messages are still here…"

Luna, glaring at the smirking Tuxedo Mask, said, "I have no idea. But if I had to guess, I'd say yes."

Rini stamped up to Sailor Moon and said, "No he won't. I did what Luna and the Senshi said and wiped his memories, too. You're too immature for a boyfriend anyway, especially after you wanted to stay on that ship LOOKING for him; you almost got us all KILLED!" Rini tried to grab the phone; Serena shoved her hard, but the girl came back and said, "The messages _SHOULD_ be gone, but I guess your crystal protected you—"

Tuxedo Mask winced as he saw his Princess slap the little girl across the face. Sailor Moon pushed herself up and pocketed her phone. "Tuxedo Mask's right; we have NO RIGHT to play with people's memories." She glared at the little girl and said, "I don't know WHERE you came from that it's okay to do that, but it's NOT okay here."

"Sailor Moon!" Mars exclaimed. "She saved our BUTTS!"

"SAILOR MARS!" Moon replied. "SHE STOLE MY CRYSTAL! She got all of you captured!"

"I'm SORRY!" Rini cried, rubbing the stinging place where she'd been slapped. "I only did what Luna said we should do! I don't know your boyfriend or **Mina's** parents but they shouldn't remember anything—"

Sailor Moon slapped her own forehead and watched as Sailor Venus started going off on Rini about using their civilian names. Sailor Moon said, "It's NOT Tuxedo Mask's fault that this alien has a BIG MOUTH!"

Rini cried. "I didn't mean to SAY her name!"

Sailor Mars bent down and said, "One more time, kid… DUCK TAPE!" Then turned on Sailor Moon. "—And we're aware it's not Cape Boy's fault that Rini said Venus' civilian name, Moon." Mars glared at her Princess. "It's not like we get off on this; we're just trying to protect you!"

When Sailor Moon glared back without a word, Sailor Mars added, "And I'm sorry about Darien. —but hey, if it's meant to be, he'll be back, even without his memories."

This time, Sailor Moon accepted Tuxedo Mask's hand intertwined with hers. They walked off together, leaving the brooding Senshi to deal with Rini.

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Tuxedo Mask definitely recognized that they were walking towards HIS apartment; he wasn't sure if Serena intended that, though. Swallowing, trying to think of something to say that wouldn't give away his identity, he asked, "Did the brainwashing have any effect on you, do you think?"

Moon shook her head, but stared straight ahead, as if in a daze: "Of course not." Beat. "Not directly. Apparently my Silver Crystal protects all of us from Rini's brainwashing."

Yeah, it was about the FIRST time he'd thought something positive about the Silver Crystal EVER. Tuxedo Mask chuckled, and Moon asked, "What?"

He shrugged. "Tell me about your boyfriend."

Sailor Moon started to open her mouth, THEN realized she was holding Tuxedo Mask's hand. She let it go apologetically, then said, "He's not really my boyfriend. Maybe he could have been if it weren't for the space brat back there." She giggled as she remembered Mask's assault on Luna-P: "I can't tell you how many times I've wanted to destroy that ball of hers. We had to lock it up last night after the Rubeus battle —she was trying to get my Silver Crystal…"

"She succeeded," Mask said, more casually than he felt. He was INFURIATED that they were allowing Rini back into Serena's home.

Sailor Moon winced. "She's resourceful. She got loose and got Luna-P, then while we were sleeping, stole my crystal. We weren't even sure when exactly she left this morning, but we looked for her all day."

"So she's just this little ball of evil who wants your Crystal for ..what? _K__icks?_" Mask asked.

Sailor Moon said, quietly, "She wants to help her mother, and she thinks the Silver Crystal will do it." Beat. "I think we sort of agreed to help her."

Tuxedo Mask's arm was on hers, and he stopped their walking and turned her to face him: "You're going to the future?"

Sailor Moon shrugged. "I guess so." She smiled snarkily up at Mask: "It's the only way to get rid of her."

"You have to take me, then," he said sternly.

Moon raised her eyebrows: "Um, _heh_, you WANT to go?" She wasn't sure SHE wanted to go.

He turned and started walking them forward again: "I HAVE to go with you, Sailor Moon. I _should_ have been up on that UFO with you today. I'm _**supposed**_ to protect you… all." He didn't feel that last part was even remotely true, except indirectly. But he didn't want to put even more of a guilt-trip on her; he could sense that she felt close to both his Tuxedo Mask persona and to Darien Chiba.

Sailor Moon nearly melted with the sweet sentiment. But he continued, more harshly this time: "And I don't care what the others say; YOU insist that I go."

"Um," she blushed, "_Okay_, but it's not like I know how to contact you, exactly."

Mask stared her down, not feeling guilty for getting harsh with his blushing Princess: "Transform; I'll be there."

As she watched him jump to a rooftop and escape, she was hit with a strong sense of déjà vu, and recalled Darien promising something _very_ similar last night. She started shaking as she neared Darien's apartment… how far back might Rini have erased? Would Darien even recognize her? He'd SAID he'd been interested in her for months… maybe she'd just be a figure in his memories now. Somewhere unspecified in the background.

And then it hit her.

Like a ton of fucking bricks.

She let her transformation go, and nearly collapsed. The very thing Rei had been complaining about, how Darien was suddenly just unimportant to them, how their memories of him were fuzzy, and how he was more like an action figure placed in all their memories… "Oh my God!" she cried out loud with tears welling up in her eyes. "We HAVE been brainwashed!"

Dizzy, she started running to the address Darien had given in one of her texts, where she'd already visited that day with Luna. She ran while she read his copious texts; she stopped reading and started listening to the voicemails. Okay, the last few were from her mother, and apparently Darien _had_ paid her mom a little visit. Much more of a 'visit' than Luna had suggested, too.

—okay, a very strange, BIG visit. And Mama seemed to think Serena was 'working' for Darien. She noted that whatever had happened, her mother never learned Darien's name. That made her chuckle a bit, even while she was crying about someone having brainwashed her and the Senshi.

Then she started listening to the rest of her voice mails. She nearly tripped, and slowed to a near crawl, when she heard the desperation in one of Darien's latest voice mails. She actually sat on the sidewalk, so overcome with emotion after hearing Darien Chiba's voice _pleading_ with him to contact her. She leaned back against the brick wall of a building, still blocks away from the address Darien gave her, and let tears roll down her face as his melodic voice lulled her fears. All day, she'd believed she might never see him again; and that even if he were okay, that her Senshi would somehow block her from seeing him again. Then tonight, while being pounded over and over by Rubeus and his sisters, while trying to save the Senshi, she STILL feared she wouldn't make it out alive and be able to see Darien again.

She listened to Darien tell her voicemail that she couldn't possibly understand how he felt, but that he loved her, and he'd always love her. She was 'Timeless'. Every word he'd ever told her about the fake girlfriend '_Timeless'_ was how he felt about her, but didn't have the nerve to tell her directly. He _begged_ her to call. He begged her to just text a simple one-word sign to let him know she was okay. He sounded choked up in one of the voicemails, like he was about to cry, and that one got her the most. All he'd said was, "Serena, please call," but there was such an ..an aching sound in his voice that it made her body flush with love.

She didn't feel like she could move; she forced herself up, then tried to straighten her appearance somewhat and wipe her face clean before even trying to get near his building.

"Serena."

She froze; Darien's arm rested on her shoulder, then turned her around. He'd come for her, somehow. She wondered how he knew where she was. She wanted to tell him she just got her phone. She wanted to tell him so much …but upon seeing his face, she just burst into tears instead. Suddenly, his arms were around her waist, and she was dangling off the ground, tucking her head into his neck as he pulled her tightly against him. He said her name again, this time with his lips near her ear.

She realized they were moving; he was walking and carrying her —and rubbing her back with a free hand, all without letting her go. And all she could do was blubber like a baby into his ear. Her arms were wrapped around his shoulders tightly, and soon her legs were wrapped around his waist, like a reverse piggy-back ride. She even tried to apologize for _that_, but her sobbing rambling made no sense even to her ears. She ran her fingers through his dark hair and kissed his hairline, his ear, all the while crying. Somehow she knew she'd crossed a line, but she didn't care. She kept her fingers buried in his hair and held him tightly, feeling all was right with the world again, if only for that moment.

All too soon, he was holding her with just one arm and fumbling with a key card for his building. She was trying to get down and wipe her face at least, so he wouldn't have to face his neighbors with a blubbering baby on his arm, but he let the door slam closed again and pushed her against it, leaning into the door. "No no," he mewed into her ear emotionally; she realized he was choked up, maybe crying, as well. He said darkly, "I told you, if I found you I wasn't letting you go."

"You remember?" she asked, unbelieving. "Our picnics.. and —you went to my mom's house tonight? You _REMEMBER_?"

"Of course, Serena," he stammered gruffly, before he descended on her mouth with her very first kiss. Tears and snot from both parties mingling into what Serena feared would be the most disgusting first kiss in the history of mankind. But Darien didn't recoil in disgust; he invaded her mouth almost violently, which inexplicably caused her to sob more. When she tried to pull away to at least wipe her face before kissing him again, he held her head down forcefully onto his, and fully explored every tiny crevice of her mouth with his demanding tongue. Serena let his demonstration of love lull her, at least enough where she wasn't crying anymore.

"Now," he said emotionally, wiping his face across her blouse. He pulled back from the door while keeping an arm under her rear to secure her to his body, "We're going to get up to my apartment and finish our 'discussion' there."

.

Serena finally wiped her face with a free arm as he pushed them through the now-open door, and then walked them towards the elevator. Through blurry eyes, she barely made out other people in the lobby, and buried her head into his shoulder as he pressed on, holding her even more tightly. As he stood there at the elevator, rubbing her back while she held on, she finally said with broken breaths, "I'm sorry. Mina stole my phone today, and—"

He hushed her with a hand gently wiping over her mouth: "Don't know, don't care." He smiled at her, then walked into the elevator, still without letting her down, then pushed the button for his floor. To somewhat cut the sexual tension he felt coursing through his body, he added, gruffly, "Though I imagine your mom might want to hear from you."

He finally pushed into his apartment, kicked the door shut, then walked her over to the sofa. He tried to sit her down, but she held on, and he was over her in seconds, their mouths smashed together in the most desperate kiss he could have hoped for. He nipped her bottom lip and said, "Serena—."

She kissed his face as he talked, something about food, but finally she heard him groan and give up talking as he pushed her down into the cushions of the sofa and raped her mouth fervently with his. He expertly shifted them both so that he was pressing intimately against her body; she almost blacked out from the sensations he was sending coursing through her inexperienced body.

While he was still kissing her, she started focusing more on what his hands and the rest of his body were doing to her, and her head flopped over so she could catch her breath and more fully experience his possessive movements. His mouth moved down over her neck, and her eyes closed as he nibbled and suckled on her tender skin. Her head was spinning with new, toe-curling sensations, but she wanted more, and she grinded her body up against his with a pleading moan. He pulled away from her neck, stared at her wild-eyed, then seemed to go crazy, hoisting her off the sofa before she even knew what was happening.

He mumbled almost incoherently, "You're even more of a minx now than I remember," as he jerked back the covers and put her in his bed.

She caught her breath, then realized what he was doing, standing there staring at her as she lay in his bed. He was stripping off his clothes, and then pulling off her shoes. He was undressing her.. oh God, Rei had been right! …well, right that this guy wanted sex.

Which was a good thing; she'd decided while listening to his voicemails that if she ever laid eyes on him again, and by some miracle he remembered her as more than his greatest sparring partner 'Odango Atama'… He pulled her skirt off, then started unbuttoning her blouse. "I'm more of a minx _than you remember?_" she asked hazily. Was he talking about other women? Or maybe when she'd tickled him the other day…?

His response was collapsing on her and kissing her deeply. She could feel his hands in her hair, trying to unwind her Odangos and hold her in place at the same time. She was mesmerized by having his decidedly naked body atop her somewhat-clothed body, and let her hands explore his hot skin. The muscles under his skin were all contracting and expanding with every movement, and it dawned on her that this mass of beautiful maleness was exploding into action because of _her_. She wanted to tell him to slow down, just so she could appreciate his body more, but her mouth was stuffed with his mouth. She was breathing through his lungs, and talking was not an option.

But when he pulled up to push her shirt all the way off, something snapped and she freaked… she made a dive for her blouse that he'd dropped to the floor, leaving him perched over her legs while she was bent over to the floor. Shirt in hand, or rather, brooch in hand, she lay back under him and asked, "I've got to put this somewhere safe. —it's the reason I was, um, gone today. I didn't keep this safe."

Darien reached over and opened his bedside table drawer, grabbed her shirt and shoved it inside, then slammed the drawer. "Better?" he asked her with s smirk on his face.

She was perched up on her elbows now, and lifted herself higher to kiss him. He busied his hands behind her back, unhooking her bra and, before sending it flying, asked with a smile, "Does this need protection too?"

She knew he wanted her to laugh; she didn't feel like laughing. She suddenly realized she was completely naked under his body, which was also completely and deliciously naked.

He mistook her lovestruck awe for an innocent's misgivings, and set about soothing her nerves with a long, slow kiss. He'd turn this down a notch so she wouldn't end up feeling her first time wasn't consensual. He mumbled against her wet, well-kissed lips, "I've wanted this for so long, Serena.."

But then Darien was happily surprised to feel her hands on him, first reaching dangerously below his back, then reaching up between them and grasping _him_. He hissed in shock, but didn't want to do anything to stop her.

Serena relished the feel of him, and gently continued her explorations, getting to know this part of him and feeling dizzy with every bit of the intimacies. He remained perched above her, unmoving, but certainly not quiet, as she gently explored his great lengths. She'd have NEVER imagined herself partaking in such a pleasurable experience before a few weeks ago, but ever since she'd started meeting Darien for their picnics, her mind had started wandering to how lucky his girlfriend must be. She'd watched Darien's body with fascination every day. And then her mind had positively hit the gutter when picture-taking time happened at the start of the week. Her fantasies after that were _just_ like this, with him suspended over her body while manipulating her hair, …just like he had done during the pictures, only more explicit.

She'd never told anyone that the day he took those pictures of her, she'd gotten a sense of déjà vu. Not just a sense that she'd done this before, but a shocking jolt of something that told her Darien Chiba had been perched over her body before, and dammit it was impossible, but she KNEW they'd been in such positions before.

She looked up into his face and breathed, "We've done this before."

Darien's heart soared and he descended on her passionately, everywhere at once, and almost died from the pleasure until they both realized that no, in fact, they hadn't 'done this before'… at least not in this lifetime. She'd flinched in agony that he'd forgotten to expect, as he'd been so hung up in his memories from the Silver Millennium times that he didn't consider her innocence _now_. He cursed himself, but held her still, and as close as two people could ever come, until her pain subsided.

Very carefully, without moving his body, he drew her lips to his and kissed her lightly. He apologized quietly, and she cried lightly, but she didn't push him away. When the shock of the pain wore off, she carefully kissed him back. And soon they were moving together, their mutual love proving itself and driving away all fears and doubts, then filling them with a wild hunger for each other that both knew would never be sated.

.

.

Ikuko was in tears of joy to see Rini and Luna arrive, and picked the little girl up and held her tightly. "Oh my God," she exclaimed, "I was so worried about you!"

Rini cocked her head, "Why, Mama-Ikuko? Didn't I tell you we'd be right back?"

Ikuko looked at the little girl and said, "Um, _**no!**_ In fact, you and Serena weren't supposed to be back until Monday!" She put the little girl down and demanded, "Where's my DAUGHTER?"

Luna almost said something, but even if she could, she couldn't think of a thing to say. Had Rini's brainwashing only partially worked?.

Rini hiccupped. "Um, I think —Serena's on her way. …Ami didn't want to walk home alone."

Ikuko turned on Rini and bent over: "Do you know the man she's been seeing? He came by, and he was worried SICK!"

"I don't know what man you're talking about!" Rini exclaimed, then bounced Luna-P again with furious purpose; Luna-P couldn't fail her!

Luna the cat couldn't believe what she saw next! She saw a silver light flash over Ikuko as the fairy dust blew.

Ikuko seemed to ignore all of that, and instead held out a slip of paper with Serena's boyfriend's phone number on it: "I haven't told Kenji about this yet, but I sure as HELL called the other mothers and let them know that our daughters might be in danger!"

Luna freaked, but quietly. She needed to communicate with Artemis, and FAST. But she was taken by another sight: as Rini continued bouncing Luna-P and telling Ikuko that there was no man, the silver light encompassed Luna-P, and the face on the ball grew dim, then faded. Then the silver light subsided.

Ikuko took the ball from Rini and said, "I'm sick of this damned ball, Rini! …—I didn't mean to curse, Rini. Sorry. I just …I'm worried about my daughter." She went to the phone and dialed the number on it.

.

.

Serena mewed happily under Darien and said, "Maybe you should get that?" It had been ringing for several minutes now.

Darien was fully sated, but still one with his Princess. Not wanting to lose their connection, he leaned over and picked up his phone… and was no longer one with his Princess as he jumped up. "It's your mother!"

Serena shrieked, but Darien answered it and put it on speakerphone: "Hello?"

Ikuko growled, "Where have you BEEN? Rini and Luna made it home FIFTEEN MINUTES ago, but Serena wasn't with them!"

Serena was pale, listening to her mother talking to her ..oh God, her _lover_. She buried her head in her pillows.

Darien said, "I, uh, um she's right here! Yes, she just got in! —apparently she was concerned that I'd left so many messages and wanted me to know she was alright here she is" and he shoved the phone to Serena.

Serena licked her lips and said, "Hello?" She had no clue what the hell her mother did or didn't remember. She remembered Darien after all? AND Rini?

"Are you al-_**RIGHT**_?" Ikuko asked, clearly relieved to hear her daughter's voice.

"Of course, Mama!" Serena squeaked out. "I'm just, um, here at Darien's—"

"DARIEN!" Ikuko said. "That's his name! Well I assume he told you he came over here and turned over the house looking for you?"

"Yeah—" Serena tried interrupting.

"And he never once told me his name! He gave me his number and… WHY DIDN'T YOU TELL ME YOU HAD A BOYFRIEND!" Ikuko screeched.

"Well, Mama, I wh—" Serena tried interrupting again.

"And that had BETTER be ALL he is, young lady, Do You UNDERSTAND?" Mama-Ikuko belted out threateningly.

"Well, —huh?" Serena asked, not understanding. Shit, how could Mama know what had JUST happened? Darien was shaking his head furiously at her, mouthing 'No', but Serena had no clue what anyone was talking about.

Ikuko clarified immediately, "I *_**mean**_*, does he make you go out with other .._boys_, _johns_, whatever they're called? Because I Will KILL him—"

Darien grabbed the phone back: "No.. no ma'am. She's..she's my girlfriend." He swallowed hard, wondering how in the hell the woman got the idea that he was a pimp! He'd KILL anyone that tried to use Serena like that! In fact, "I'd kill anyone that tried to touch her! I swear!"

"What's your WHOLE name?" Ikuko growled angrily.

"Chiba!" Darien answered quickly. "Darien Chiba. Didn't I leave my address?" He sure thought he had!

"No, Mr. Chiba, you most certainly did NOT! But you were RIGHT about the girls not being at the cabin as you said. Dr. Mizuno took that pale-looking shrine boy and drove him to his cabin, which is where we were all LED to believe the girls would be spending the weekend. _STUDYING_!"

Darien and Serena looked at each other wildly; Serena shrugged! She'd had no idea what Rei had told the mothers last night!

Darien bristled a bit here and asked Ikuko, "I thought you'd told me it was _Lita's_ cabin?"

"Well **I DON'T KNOW YOU!**" Ikuko yelled. "I wasn't going to tell you the whole truth when you could be any lunatic stalking my daughter…!"

"Good thinking," Darien said, growling at himself for challenging Ikuko.

"Well this has never HAPPENED to me before!" Ikuko said. Then quietly, she added, "You tell Serena that her father is still unaware of all this. Just on the off-chance that Mr. Chiba really was your friend, I didn't want him to kill the boy."

"Thank you, Mama," Serena grimaced.

Ikuko said, "I've got a pen; tell me the address, and I'll be right over."

Serena's eyes went wide; Darien's sunk with grief. He'd wanted her to spend the night. He licked his lips and said, "I'll bring her home, Ms. Tsukino."

"Oh no," Ikuko said. "I'll pick her UP. Now give me that damned address before I lose my TEMPER!"

.

.

Serena knelt on the bed and started picking up her discarded clothing. Darien, standing over her as she knelt on the bed in all her naked glory, bent over and captured her lips again for a kiss. Which she hungrily returned, and leaned up to wrap her arms around his neck.

Darien growled in frustration and said, "Sere, if we don't stop, your mom's going to walk in on us and _really_ kill me."

Serena was still holding his face in her hands, and smiled at him: "I wish I could stay." Beat. "I love you, Darien Chiba, with all my heart and—."

His heart exploded and he was back over her again, kissing her fretfully. He rolled them over so that she was on his stomach, and he sighed, "I love you, too."

She giggled and reached for her phone, shaking it menacingly in the air: "I know!" she smiled.

He pulled her down and said, "Serena, I -I've got so much to tell you, but first, I need to apologize for ..for the picnics. For letting you believe I had another girlfriend…"

She blushed: "Rei said I should apologize for being so stupid…"

Darien shook his head: "I didn't set out to lie. I always hoped you'd understand some day. —I wanted to tell you so many times that ..that I just wanted to spend time with you."

Serena shrugged. "You could have just ..asked." She smiled, and kissed him lightly.

Darien sighed. "You weren't paying any attention to me at all, Serena. I just .._wanted to spend time with you_."

She shook her head, then turned and sat on the bed, and started pulling her clothes on. He lay there, curious. "Serena?"

Serena bit her lip and looked down at the floor. "I'm sorry, Darien. I don't know why I …" She couldn't tell him that she thought she'd been brainwashed, because it would end up blowing her whole identity. She thought back over the last few months, and she honestly couldn't say why she'd just started ignoring him. Rei had surely been right about that when arguing the point last night… the _old_ Serena wouldn't have FORGOTTEN her sparring partner just because he was down in the dumps. Hell, Serena would have sought him out, especially on her bad days. It WAS like she had a huge hole in her memory somewhere, but at the same time, she just didn't! _Except where Darien was concerned._ She shook her head and turned to look at him: "It's not LIKE me to just … well, ignore someone who _annoys_ me so much!" She was half-laughing, but more crying, and completely able to explain herself.

Which shocked Darien. Wide-eyed, he realized she was AWARE that her memories had been manipulated! He knew she'd experienced déjà vu, which he suspected she was starting to wonder about, as well. But this was different, and surely agonizing for her, and he quickly tried to soothe her, "Hey… **hey!** I sorta, um, _wanted_ to be left alone."

Serena cocked her head to the side and stared into his beautiful blue eyes. "No you _didn't_. You might not have liked me too much, but you didn't want to be ..forgotten. Or you wouldn't have shown up at the arcade so often. And I –I have no idea .._where my mind went!_" She cried, because that was completely true. She'd hated Darien so much that going a day without sparring with him _should_ have been unthinkable. She let him hug her, but said, "I'm sorry; it's like you disappeared, but —it wasn't you who disappeared! I guess it was my brain. —Can I plead temporary insanity?"

He hated her struggle, and wanted to smack that damned Silver Crystal she was wearing again and …then he remembered that the Silver Crystal had protected him from Rini's brainwashings, which could have left him without memory of her at all. He planted a kiss on her forehead, and sternly said, "You eventually remembered that I was still around," he tried, lightly, but heard the amount of emotion in his voice. Dammit, he'd had no clue how the Silver Crystal had worked him in and out of her mind, but apparently it pasted a copy of his image in the arcade the whole time he was Beryl's minion in the Negaverse. And she ..she KNEW better than to imagine she would have left him alone. Anymore than he would have left her alone.

How BAD he wanted to relieve her guilt, to tell her, 'Hey, _I WASN'T THERE!_ THAT'S why you don't remember me!'

But the Silver Crystal was protecting her. Just as it had protected him tonight. If only it could ease Serena's mind just a little….

Maybe that's what _this_ was. The Silver Crystal's pleasure allowance for its owner, in the face of dreadful truths all around them. It had protected HIS memories from being erased to ensure she wouldn't suffer. It had protected HER from remembering his evil alter ego in the Negaverse… the memories he could hardly live with himself, nearly killing his Princess with his bare hands….

.

All too soon, they heard knocking at his door. He yelled out, "Coming!" and jumped into his pants while Serena finished straightening up her own appearance. But before they got to the door, he pulled her in and kissed her: "Just remember, we're together now. Nothing else matters."

Serena wiped away her tears, but didn't believe his words. "What if.. Darien, what if you just _forget_ me one day? Or I forget you again?"

Ikuko was now yelling at the door, but Darien swooped Serena over and nipped her tongue, kissing her deeply. Mouths still touching, he said, "We'll find our way back to each other, Serena. But I don't think that's ever going to happen again."

Serena looked confused, but he pressed his mouth over hers again. He was still kissing her when he reached behind him and opened the door. Serena broke away from him just as Ikuko burst in. The irritated woman was about to yell, they could see it in her face, but then she didn't say a word, and simply cleared her throat.

She walked in like it was her place… _what's good for the goose_, etc. And immediately found some pictures of Serena framed and set all along his furniture. Serena's eyes went wide, as if she hadn't seen them before, telling Ikuko that Serena hadn't been spending much time in the living room this evening. "Nice," she said, nodding to Darien Chiba.

Blushing, Darien held Serena's shoulders and said, "Just had those framed the other day. They're from our picnics."

Ikuko glared at Serena, who stiffened in Darien's arms. She said, "Well, thank you very much for ..alerting us to Serena's being in danger."

Serena licked her lips: "Mama, it wasn't danger so much… just—"

"I was worried," Darien offered, then looked down as if in shame. "Maybe needlessly."

Ikuko's glare finally moved from Serena to Darien, and she sternly said, "No. No, I don't think it was about nothing." She bit her lip. "Serena won't be having any more of these 'weekend retreats'. I'm not sure why I'd ever agreed to them to begin with." Without turning to Serena, but addressing her, she said, "Your Mr. Chiba here put me in my place quite well—"

Darien winced, then quickly said, "I didn't to, Ma'am!" He needed to learn to lie, and quickly. "I just didn't know where she was, and I'm afraid I let myself get carried away."

Serena added, "We'd had a disagreement the day before, Mama. A really, really bad one." She looked at Darien, remembering just how bad it had been that night at the arcade with Rei and Chad. "I had accepted a date with Chad—"

"That _wormy_ boy from the shrine?" Ikuko asked. The look on Serena's face, and then the hilarious look on Darien's face, told her that was him. Well, that just about explained everything. "Don't tell me he was planning to go to his cabin with you!"

"Oh, no!" Serena said, surprised that such an accusation would ever be hurled her way.

Darien gently grasped Serena's fingers and said, "I'm afraid I didn't make my intentions with your daughter quite clear. She was under the impression that I wanted her to have a boyfriend—"

"I was, Mama!" Serena agreed. "I thought that's why he always asked about guys at school showing an interest in me, and I was afraid if I didn't get a boyfriend fast, he wouldn't want to have picnics with me anymore."

"And I just wanted to make sure she wasn't being harassed by other boys," Darien said. That part was absolutely true.

Ikuko nodded. "So you two are dating."

"We are," Darien said.

Ikuko nodded. "And Serena, this isn't something you want your father finding out about."

"No not quite yet," Serena agreed, scanning the floor.

"Fine, then Mr. Chiba, if you have a scarf we could borrow, we will be getting out of your hair," Ikuko smiled, with her arm out, waiting.

Serena had no clue why she'd need a scarf, but Darien had burst to his closet to find one. They were all severely heavy, though, and he just dropped the motherload onto Ikuko's waiting arm.

Ikuko selected one and handed the rest back to Darien. She growled, "Too bad it's still summer," while she finished tying it around her daughter's neck. "When we get home, you'll rush in, and swap this out for a lightweight turtleneck."

"But—?" Serena started.

Ikuko pushed Serena out the door, then turned on Chiba and quietly said, "I hope you were careful with my daughter!"

"Of course!" Darien blurted out, before realizing what she was talking about. And when he did realize what she was asking, they were in the elevator and gone.

* * *

**A/N**

**On Hiatus!**

Deleted the end of this chapter and Chs 7-14 in order to rewrite the story I want, which is heinously more complicated than I had imagined.

Believe me, I'm working on it. :/


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